KAZALCI OKOLJA

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In Slovenia, most of the consumed food (more than 70 %) is imported, only about a third is of Slovenian origin; before 2004, 40 % of the consumed food was imported. After Slovenia joined the EU, the import and export of food has increased significantly. Exports increased mainly at the expense of unprocessed agricultural products, while imports increased at the expense of processed products. More than half of the imported food (60 %) is imported from neighbouring countries (Austria, Croatia, Italy and Hungary), mainly cereals, fruit, vegetables and sugar.


The import structure of consumed food shows from which countries and which agricultural products Slovenia imports the most. The total amount of food imports is also shown. The indicator covers a set of agricultural products: cereals, meat, eggs, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, sugar and rice.

The indicator shows the structure of the origin of the consumed food, the structure of imported food by countries, agricultural products and total imports.


Charts

Figure KM31-1: Structure of the origin of consumed food in the period 2000–2019
Sources: 

SORS, calculations by Agricultural Institute of Slovenia
Data: 06.07.2020

Chart note: 

* Temporary data

Show data

Import [%]

Domestic source [%]

2000

39.12

60.88

2001

45.69

54.31

2002

38.97

61.03

2003

47.30

52.70

2004

44.49

55.51

2005

46.94

53.06

2006

51.29

48.71

2007

58.29

41.71

2008

59.82

40.18

2009

62.06

37.94

2010

62.28

37.72

2011

63.56

36.44

2012

65.66

34.34

2013

71.31

28.69

2014

66.13

33.87

2015

69.75

30.25

2016

69.27

30.73

2017

80.61

19.39

2018

74.39

25.61

2019*

80.26

19.74

Figure KM31-2: Structure of imported food by country in the period 2000–2019
Imported food by country
Sources: 

SORS, calculations by Agricultural Institute of Slovenia
Data: 06.07.2020

Chart note: 

 *Temporary data

Show data

Hungary [%]

Austria [%]

Italy [%]

Croatia [%]

Germany [%]

Serbia [%]

Netherlands [%]

Other countries [%]

2000

35.24

14.51

13.62

3.21

4.52

1.45

2.74

24.70

2001

39.22

15.42

13.97

1.22

4.33

1.09

2.05

22.70

2002

42.43

6.97

13.98

1.83

4.39

1.46

2.59

26.35

2003

32.83

6.74

11.10

2.35

5.03

2.26

3.50

36.19

2004

34.42

10.48

18.16

2.03

3.92

1.79

4.28

24.92

2005

41.76

10.37

15.87

2.22

4.27

1.67

3.82

20.01

2006

39.65

12.49

16.55

3.69

3.25

3.21

4.14

17.02

2007

29.68

13.48

18.07

5.18

7.51

2.36

4.10

19.62

2008

26.33

17.72

17.32

3.42

9.63

2.19

4.02

19.38

2009

25.53

20.10

15.53

5.12

7.79

2.01

4.31

19.60

2010

24.50

20.06

16.44

6.17

7.42

2.31

4.25

18.85

2011

23.88

19.55

14.80

5.08

7.66

3.62

3.99

21.43

2012

26.03

18.44

15.24

6.38

7.31

2.62

3.80

20.18

2013

23.62

17.01

13.34

9.22

8.68

5.68

3.68

18.77

2014

19.50

16.83

15.74

12.20

10.54

3.71

3.51

17.97

2015

17.53

15.51

15.85

14.08

11.94

2.38

3.11

19.60

2016

16.48

17.60

14.66

15.06

8.14

4.00

3.42

20.65

2017

18.97

15.86

13.00

14.93

6.67

2.48

3.48

24.62

2018

14.76

14.33

11.73

19.85

7.08

3.53

3.00

25.71

2019*

14.99

13.77

11.75

18.21

6.95

3.94

3.68

26.71

Figure KM31-3: Structure of imported food by country groups in the period 2000–2019
Sources: 

SORS, calculations by Agricultural Institute of Slovenia
Data: 06.07.2020

Chart note: 

*Temporary data

Show data

Other countries [%]

Neighbouring countries [%]

2000

33.41

66.59

2001

30.16

69.84

2002

34.79

65.21

2003

46.98

53.02

2004

34.91

65.09

2005

29.78

70.22

2006

27.62

72.38

2007

33.59

66.41

2008

35.21

64.79

2009

33.72

66.28

2010

32.83

67.17

2011

36.69

63.31

2012

33.91

66.09

2013

36.81

63.19

2014

35.73

64.27

2015

37.03

62.97

2016

36.20

63.80

2017

37.24

62.76

2018

39.32

60.68

2019*

41.28

58.72

Figure KM31-4: Structure of imports of agricultural products in the period 2000–2019
Sources: 

SORS, calculations by Agricultural Institute of Slovenia
Data: 06.07.2020

Chart note: 

*Temporary data

Show data

Eggs [%]

Rice [%]

Meat [%]

Potatoes [%]

Sugar [%]

Vegetables [%]

Fruit [%]

Cereals [%]

2000

0.16

1.00

3.63

4.58

6.72

10.84

16.18

56.88

2001

0.14

1.02

3.54

3.79

4.16

10.77

15.94

60.64

2002

0.19

1.12

3.84

4.49

7.29

11.61

18.38

53.08

2003

0.12

1.04

4.18

4.64

7.59

12.48

17.90

52.05

2004

0.12

0.87

3.94

5.53

6.38

10.94

17.39

54.83

2005

0.24

1.01

5.14

4.74

8.62

11.64

22.77

45.85

2006

0.21

0.94

5.28

5.87

7.08

12.05

18.69

49.88

2007

0.23

0.94

5.26

5.79

6.64

11.83

21.82

47.50

2008

0.25

0.93

5.96

5.48

7.97

12.78

27.20

39.42

2009

0.30

0.89

6.66

5.60

9.91

12.95

27.33

36.36

2010

0.33

1.20

7.16

5.64

9.84

13.42

24.61

37.80

2011

0.25

1.16

6.60

5.60

11.74

11.78

22.00

40.86

2012

0.31

1.27

7.67

6.03

12.09

13.51

21.68

37.45

2013

0.29

1.22

7.12

5.93

10.74

12.80

21.35

40.55

2014

0.31

1.11

7.11

5.38

11.43

12.20

22.88

39.58

2015

0.28

1.05

7.95

5.42

11.10

12.56

24.96

36.68

2016

0.30

1.08

8.52

6.17

8.64

12.86

23.84

38.59

2017

0.32

0.99

7.45

6.34

8.44

11.91

24.56

39.99

2018

0.23

1.01

7.90

6.88

9.26

11.51

22.43

40.78

2019*

0.23

1.06

7.56

7.98

9.95

12.10

23.86

37.26

Figure KM31-5: The volume of imports of agricultural products in the period 2000–2019
Sources: 

SORS, calculations by Agricultural Institute of Slovenia
Data: 06.07.2020

Chart note: 

* Temporary data

Show data

Imports together [thousand ton]

Eggs [thousand ton]

Rice [thousand ton]

Potatoes [thousand ton]

Meat [thousand ton]

Sugar [thousand ton]

Vegetables [thousand ton]

Fruit [thousand ton]

Cereals [thousand ton]

2000

866.01

1.40

8.70

39.69

31.41

58.21

93.86

140.12

492.62

2001

913.88

1.29

9.29

34.68

32.37

37.99

98.42

145.67

554.17

2002

861.09

1.64

9.62

38.67

33.10

62.79

99.95

158.26

457.06

2003

895.83

1.06

9.31

41.54

37.45

68.03

111.84

160.31

466.29

2004

1017.08

1.24

8.89

56.26

40.09

64.84

111.22

176.85

557.69

2005

968.74

2.28

9.81

45.91

49.79

83.47

112.78

220.57

444.13

2006

1095

2.25

10.30

64.33

57.84

77.58

131.90

204.63

546.17

2007

1163.63

2.70

10.89

67.42

61.15

77.21

137.62

253.92

552.72

2008

1192.61

3.03

11.12

65.34

71.10

95.08

152.41

324.37

470.16

2009

1163.23

3.50

10.40

65.16

77.47

115.25

150.59

317.95

422.91

2010

1133.40

3.70

13.55

63.91

81.12

111.58

152.12

278.96

428.46

2011

1248.74

3.15

14.53

69.88

82.40

146.61

147.14

274.75

510.28

2012

1107.45

3.39

14.06

66.78

84.92

133.92

149.59

240.08

414.71

2013

1214.36

3.51

14.80

72.07

86.50

130.40

155.39

259.31

492.38

2014

1292.78

4.04

14.40

69.51

91.88

147.75

157.67

295.79

511.74

2015

1303.14

3.66

13.72

70.64

103.55

144.62

163.65

325.29

478.01

2016

1276.90

3.79

13.79

78.75

108.80

110.38

164.15

304.46

492.78

2017

1422.43

4.55

14.09

90.23

105.91

120.01

169.42

349.38

568.84

2018

1445.40

3.31

14.62

99.45

114.16

133.91

166.32

324.14

589.49

2019*

1465.27

3.37

15.52

116.93

110.83

145.86

177.28

349.59

545.89


Goals

  • To achieve an adequate food self-sufficiency rate and ensure food security in the country.
  • Ensure food security through the stable production of safe, high-quality and consumer-friendly food.

Monitoring the import structure of consumed food is also important from the point of view of food security and access to food in Slovenia. Global megatrends show that climate changes in the future may influence food production in Slovenia and increase the dependence of food on the world market, which may also affect food prices in Slovenia.

Structure of imported consumed food is compared between the periods before EU accession (2000–2003), post-accession period (2004–2013) and the period of recent years (2014–2018). Consumed food includes domestic production and imports of agricultural products, minus exports. Before EU accession (2000–2003) almost 60 % of the consumed food in Slovenia was of Slovenian origin and the remaining 40 % of food was imported. In the post-accession period (2004–2013) the ratio changed, 60 % of the consumed food was imported and 40 % was of domestic origin. This gap has widened since, in the recent period (2014–2018) more than 70 % of consumed food was imported and less than one third of consumed food was of domestic origin. Several factors contributed to the sharp increase in the share of the food imports over the last two decades. Domestic production of agricultural products is declining and was on average one fifth lower in recent years (2014–2018) than in the period before EU accession (2000–2003). The input and exports of agricultural products are increasing. For example, the exports in recent years were on average four times higher than in the period before EU accession, while imports did not grow as strongly (+50 %). After EU accession, the exports of raw materials or unprocessed agricultural products increased significantly, but at the same time the imports of processed products also increased. Domestic production of agricultural products has declined and at the same time exports have increased, so less food of Slovenian origin is available on the domestic market.

Structure of import of food changes over the years. Most food is imported from the EU–28 (85 %). About 65 % of the food is imported from the neighbouring countries (Austria, Croatia, Italy and Hungary) and this share has remained relatively constant over the years. In the period before EU accession (2000–2003), more than 60 % of food was imported from Hungary (37 %), Italy (13 %) and Austria (11 %). In the post-accession period (2004–2013) the share of food imported from Hungary decreased while the share of imports from Austria, Italy, Croatia and Germany increased. Major changes in the structure of food imports have been observed in the recent years. The share of food imported from Hungary continues to decrease, as does the share of food imports from Italy. After 2013, food imports from Croatia increased strongly (Croatia joined the EU in 2013), and the share of imports from Germany also increased slightly. Apart from neighbouring countries, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Slovakia are also important food importers from the EU–28. Countries outside the EU–28 that are among the most important food importers are Serbia, Egypt, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.  

The structure of imports of agricultural products changes over the years. On average, in the period of recent years (2014–2018), most cereals (40 %), fruit (25 %), vegetables (12 %) and sugar (10 %) are imported. Compared to the period before EU accession (2000–2003), the share of cereal imports has decreased (from 55 % to 40 %) and the share of fruit imports has increased significantly (from 17 % to 24 %). After 2005, when the only sugar factory in Slovenia was closed, sugar imports also increased significantly (in the period 2014–2018 sugar imports increased by 125 % compared to the period before EU accession).

In general, quantitative imports of all agricultural products are increasing in the period 2000–2019. Since the beginning of the 21st century, imports of fruit (by more than 200 thousand tonnes), potatoes and sugar have increased significantly. The majority of grain imports in the last five years, 90 %, are imports of corn and wheat. As for fruit, bananas and citrus fruits are the most important imports (60 % of total fruit imports). Among vegetable imports, tomatoes, peppers, onions and watermelons dominate, accounting for 50 % of total vegetable imports. As far as meat is concerned, pork and poultry are the main imports (60 % of total meat imports).

According to the preliminary data, in 2019 just over 1.464 thousand tonnes of food were imported, 59 % came from neighbouring countries. The most imported were cereals with 546 thousand tonnes of (37 %), followed by fruit (350 thousand tonnes or 24 %), vegetables (177 thousand tonnes or 12 %), sugar (146 thousand tonnes or 10 %), potatoes (117 thousand tonnes or 8 %) and meat (111 thousand tonnes or 8 %).


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