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Slovenia's economy expanded for the first time in six quarters during the April to June period, largely driven by higher external demand, official data showed Tuesday. The non-seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, or GDP, rose 2.2% annually during the June quarter, compared to 1.1% decline in the first three months of the year, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia said.
This is the first positive GDP figure after six consecutive quarters of contractions. GDP increased a seasonally and working day adjusted 1.1% sequentially in the second quarter, following a 0.1% decline in the first quarter.
The key driver of growth was a significant upturn in external demand during the period. Exports of goods and services were 11.4% higher than last year. Imports of goods and services recorded similar growth and were up 10.2% annually.
On a seasonally and working day adjusted basis, GDP rose 1.5% year-on-year. During the first half, GDP increased 0.6% compared to the same period last year.
Value added in manufacturing climbed 13.9%, which was the strongest growth in the last eighteen years, mainly due to robust growth in external demand. Final consumption expenditure remained unchanged for the second consecutive quarter with individual consumption expenditure declining 0.3% and public consumption expenditure rising 0.7%.
Gross capital formation rose 6.4% annually, while gross fixed capital formation grew 5.7% year-on-year in the second quarter. In the meantime, the statistical office released the revised estimate for 2009 GDP. As per the latest report, the economy contracted 8.1% in 2009, severe than the 7.8% shrinkage estimated initially.
Separately, the statistical office reported that the jobless rate was 7.1%, unchanged from the previous quarter. During the period, there were 74,000 unemployed persons in the country and the number of employed persons totaled 968,000.
The number of unemployed persons had been increasing from the second half of 2008 until the beginning of 2010 when it reached 74,000, the statistical office said. The number of employed persons was slightly more than 3,000 or 0.3% more than in the previous quarter.
The statistical office also reported that the annual consumer price inflation for August was 2.3% and prices increased 0.3% from July. The highest annual growth in prices was recorded by housing, water, electricity and gas.
Significant increases were also recorded by alcoholic beverages and tobacco as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages. Meanwhile, costs of transport and clothing and footwear declined.
Measured with the harmonized index of consumer prices, the consumer prices for August went up by 0.1% month-on-month and 2.4% year-on-year. Import prices rose 7.6% year-on-year in July and compared to the previous month, import prices were 0.3% higher.
Another release from the statistical agency revealed that retail sales in Slovenia declined 0.7% in July from the previous month. Sales, however, were 2.9% higher than last year. Retail trade, except automotive fuel, rose 1.6% annually and 0.8% monthly
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