Slovenia’s Trade in Goods with the western Balkan Countries

Abstract

In this paper, the author deals with Slovenia’s trade in goods with the Western Balkan countries, Slovenia’s important trade partners that together account for more than ten percent of the value of Slovenia’s total trade in goods. There are several reasons for this, such as the ease of trade between Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries (excluding Albania) due to similar culture, language, etc. This is particularly true for Croatia, which is one of Slovenia’s four neighboring countries and one of its most important trade partners, accounting for more than five percent of the value of Slovenia’s total trade in goods and almost 50 percent of the value of Slovenia’s trade with the Western Balkan countries. In 2012, the value of Slovenia’s trade in goods with Croatia amounted to €2 300.2 million, a decrease of 2.2 percent over the previous year. This decrease was mainly due to lower demand for goods in both countries as a result of the financial and economic crisis.