High growth of domestic consumption

In the first quarter of 2017 substantial growth of domestic consumption was observed; it increased by 5% over the fourth quarter of 2016. High growth was observed in both components of domestic consumption: final consumption expenditure and gross capital formation. Final consumption expenditure increased by 3.4% and contributed 2.4 percentage points to GDP growth. Final consumption expenditure growth was observed already in the previous quarter (3.7%). Gross capital formation, which increased by 1% in 2016, increased in the first quarter of 2017 by 10.5% and contributed 2.1 percentage points to GDP growth.

Gross fixed capital formation increased by 12% due to high growth of construction investment and gross fixed capital formation in other machinery and equipment. Gross fixed capital formation in construction went up by almost 20%, of which investment in non-residential buildings increased by 22.6% and investment in residential buildings by 13.6%.

Gross fixed capital formation in machinery and equipment increased similarly to the previous quarter; it increased by 9.3% (in the fourth quarter of 2016 by 9.4%). Gross fixed capital formation in transport equipment increased by 10.5%, and gross fixed capital formation in other machinery and equipment by 8.8%.

Final consumption expenditure also had a positive impact on the Slovene economy. Household final consumption increased the most (by 4%). Households increased the consumption of all types of goods. Similarly to all quarters of 2016 they increased the most their consumption of durable goods.

Accelerated growth of imports and exports

After the slowdown of exports and imports in the previous two quarters, in the first quarter of 2017 higher growth of imports and exports was observed. Growth rates were almost equal; imports increased by 8.8% and exports by 8.7%. Even though imports increased faster than exports, the external trade balance remains high.

Total employment continues to grow

Total employment in the first quarter of 2017 was 964,000 persons and increased by 2.6% over the first quarter of the previous year. Most people were employed in manufacturing, followed by other business activities, health and social care, trade, and transport activities.

Notes

Unless otherwise specified, all comparisons in this text refer to original data, to volume or real changes and to changes compared with the same quarter of the previous year.

More detailed data

More detailed data including time series are available on the SI-STAT data portal.