Slovenia
Slovenia’s development co-operation focuses on its near neighbourhood in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. The majority of its official development assistance (ODA) is delivered multilaterally, notably through European Union (EU) institutions. Slovenia’s total ODA (USD 163.8 million, preliminary data) increased in 2022 due to an increase in bilateral grants to support least developed countries (LDCs) and higher contributions to international organisations. It represented 0.27% of gross national income (GNI).
Find the methodological notes behind the profile here.
Slovenia’s legal and policy framework comprises the International Development Co-operation of the Republic of Slovenia Act, the September 2017 Resolution, the November 2018 Decree, and the Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Strategy until 2030, providing a framework for multilateral activities and scope to enhance bilateral co-operation. Through its co-operation, Slovenia targets four Sustainable Development Goals: 1) decent work and economic growth; 2) sustainable consumption and production; 3) climate action; and 4) peaceful and inclusive societies.
Slovenia strives for a strong EU and a strong multilateral system and pays particular attention to the integration of Western Balkan countries into the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Slovenia held the Presidency of the European Council in the second half of 2021, its second time doing so. Priorities included strengthening the EU’s resilience to future health crises, natural disasters and cyberattacks.
Findings from OECD-DAC reviews
Slovenia’s first OECD-DAC peer review was conducted in 2017. The 2020 OECD-DAC mid-term review recognised the government’s efforts to build its development co-operation system, including strengthening staff and partner understanding of the importance of gender equality and environmental protection as cross-cutting issues. The mid-term review encouraged Slovenia to articulate more clearly how its development co-operation defines and seeks to eradicate poverty, particularly in middle-income countries in its immediate neighbourhood. Learn more about the 2020 OECD-DAC mid-term review of Slovenia and the 2017 OECD-DAC peer review.
Slovenia provided USD 163.8 million (preliminary data) of ODA in 2022 (USD 172.8 million in constant terms), representing 0.27% of GNI.1 This was an increase of 48.7% in real terms in volume and an increase in share of GNI from 0.19% in 2021, mostly due to an increase in bilateral grants, in-donor refugee costs, and contributions to multilateral organisations. Slovenia is committed, at the European level, to achieve 0.33% ODA/GNI and collectively a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio by 2030. Slovenia provided all of its ODA in the form of grants in 2021.2
In 2021, Slovenia ranked 23rd among Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries when ODA is taken as a share of GNI. ODA volume has continuously increased since 2017. A higher share of its ODA is provided multilaterally, primarily to EU institutions, and half of bilateral ODA is provided to upper middle-income countries in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. In 2020-21, Slovenia’s ODA commitments in support of gender equality and the environment and climate change fell compared to the previous years.
Slovenia is committed to several international targets, Development Assistance Committee standards and recommendations. Learn more about DAC recommendations.
Slovenia provided a higher share of its ODA multilaterally in 2021. Gross bilateral ODA was 39.7% of total ODA. Twenty-four per cent of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions). Slovenia allocated 60.3% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2022, Slovenia provided USD 5.3 million of gross bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression, of which USD 4.1 million was humanitarian assistance (preliminary data). In 2021, it provided USD 1 million.
In 2022, Slovenia provided USD 4.1 million in ODA for the COVID-19 response. Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, donations of excess doses to developing countries accounted for USD 3.8 million of ODA. In 2020 and 2021, Slovenia’s total bilateral support for COVID-19 response was USD 2.2 million and USD 13.2 million, respectively.
In 2021, Slovenia provided USD 81 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, an increase of 19.8% in real terms from 2020. Of this, USD 70.1 million was core multilateral ODA, while non-core contributions were earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 73.2% of Slovenia’s non-core contributions and 26.8% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
Eighty-two per cent of Slovenia’s total contributions to multilateral organisations in 2021 was allocated to EU Institutions, UN system, and the World Bank.
The UN system received 5.9% of Slovenia’s multilateral contributions, mainly in the form of core contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 4.8 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Slovenia’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were the UN secretariat (USD 1.1 million), UNIDO (USD 0.5 million) and FAO (USD 0.3 million).
See the section on Geographic and sectoral focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system. Learn more about multilateral development finance.
In 2021, Slovenia’s bilateral spending increased compared to the previous year. It provided USD 46.1 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented an increase of 38.9% in real terms from 2020. In 2021, Slovenia focused most of its bilateral ODA on quality education and sustainable cities and communities goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
In 2021, country programmable aid was 40.7% of Slovenia’s gross bilateral ODA, compared to a DAC country average of 45.2%. In-donor refugee costs were USD 2.3 million in 2021, a decrease of 18.9% in real terms over 2020, and represented 5.1% of Slovenia’s gross bilateral ODA.
In 2021, Slovenia channelled bilateral ODA mainly through the public sector. Technical co-operation made up 17.9% of gross ODA in 2021.
Civil society organisations
In 2021, CSOs received USD 3.2 million of gross bilateral ODA. One per cent of gross bilateral ODA was allocated to CSOs as core contributions and 5.5% was channelled through CSOs to implement projects initiated by the donor (earmarked funding). From 2020 to 2021, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs decreased as a share of bilateral ODA decreased from 8.1% to 6.9%. Learn more about ODA allocations to and through CSOs, civil society engagement in development co-operation, and the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2021, Slovenia’s bilateral ODA was primarily focused on Europe. USD 25.2 million was allocated ODA-eligible countries in Europe and USD 10.4 million to Africa, accounting respectively for 54.7% and 22.6% of gross bilateral ODA in line with its policy priorities to Europe. USD 1.6 million (3.5%) was allocated to Asia. Africa was also the main regional recipient of Slovenia’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2021, 67.4% of gross bilateral ODA went to Slovenia’s top 10 recipients. Its top 10 recipients are in Europe and Africa, in line with its focus on its immediate neighbourhood and its policy priorities. The share of gross bilateral ODA that was not allocated by country was 17.4%, with 29% of this unallocated bilateral ODA spent on refugees in the donor country.
In 2021, the least developed countries (LDCs) received 8.4% of Slovenia’s gross bilateral ODA (USD 3.9 million). This is lower than the DAC average of 22.9%. Slovenia allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (50.1%) to upper middle-income countries in 2021, noting that 17.4% was unallocated by income group. Slovenia allocated 20.2% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2021, equal to USD 9.3 million.
Fragile contexts
Support to fragile contexts reached USD 8.9 million in 2021, representing 19.2% of Slovenia’s gross bilateral ODA. Sixteen per cent of this ODA was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, decreasing from 49.3% in 2020, while 2.8% was allocated to peace, decreasing from 13.9% in 2020. Three per cent went to conflict prevention, a subset of contributions to peace, representing a decrease from 13.9% in 2020.
Learn more about support to fragile contexts on the States of Fragility platform.
Sectors
In 2021, more than two-thirds of Slovenia’s bilateral ODA was allocated to social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 79.2% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 38.7 million), with a strong focus on support to education (USD 18.1 million), health (USD 15.9 million) and government and civil society (USD 3.4 million). ODA for economic infrastructure and services totalled USD 0.8 million, focusing on business (USD 0.6 million), banking and financial services (USD 0.2 million) and communications (USD 0.2 million). Bilateral humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 3 million (6.2% of bilateral ODA). In 2021, earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations focused on health, emergency response and business.
Gender equality
In 2020-21, Slovenia committed 12% of its screened bilateral allocable aid to gender equality and women’s empowerment, as either a principal or significant objective (down from 50.5% in 2018-19, compared with the 2020-21 DAC average of 44.4%). This is equal to USD 1.7 million of bilateral ODA in support of gender equality. The share of screened bilateral allocable aid committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal objective was 5.6% in 2020-21, compared with the DAC average of 4.5%. Slovenia includes gender equality objectives in 8.4% of its ODA for humanitarian aid, compared with the 2020-21 DAC average of 17.5%. Slovenia screens the majority of its activities against the DAC gender equality policy marker (81.3% in 2020-21). Learn more about ODA focused on gender equality, the DAC Network on Gender Equality and the DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation in Development Co-operation.
Environment
In 2020-21, Slovenia committed 12.9% of its total bilateral allocable aid (USD 2.2 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions (DAC average of 34.3%), down from 45% in 2018-19. Unpacking the environmental data further:
Three per cent of screened bilateral allocable aid focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 11.3%.
Nine per cent of total bilateral allocable aid (USD 1.5 million) focused on climate change overall (the DAC average was 29%), down from 37.9% in 2018-19. Slovenia had a slightly greater focus on mitigation (6.6%) than on adaptation (6.1%) in 2020-21.
Learn more about climate-related development finance and the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Other sectors and cross-cutting themes
In 2021, Slovenia also committed USD 1.2 million (4.5% of its bilateral allocable aid) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy.
Regarding the payment of local tax and custom duties for ODA-funded goods and services, Slovenia does not typically seek exemptions on its ODA-funded goods and services in partner countries and territories. It does not make the information available on the OECD Digital Transparency Hub on the Tax Treatment of ODA.
Slovenia uses, to some extent, leveraging mechanisms to mobilise private finance for sustainable development. In 2021, Slovenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs mobilised USD 0.1 million from the private sector through simple co-financing.
In 2020-21, 62.7% of mobilised private finance by Slovenia targeted middle-income countries and 37.3% LDCs and other low-income countries (LICs). During the same period, the top beneficiary region of this financing was Asia (excluding the Middle East) (43.4% of the total).
Mobilised private finance by Slovenia in 2020-21 mainly targeted activities in the health (39.6%) and water supply & sanitation (29.8%) sectors. Furthermore, over this period, 45.3% of Slovenia’s total mobilised private finance was for climate action.
Learn more about the amounts mobilised from the private sector for development.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFA) is the national co-ordinator for development co-operation. It is responsible for co-ordinating development co-operation policies and implementation between line ministries as well as consulting with providers, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders. The Permanent Coordination Group for International Development Cooperation plans, co-ordinates and monitors the implementation of development co-operation. In 2021, the Ministry of Finance disbursed the largest amount of ODA, primarily to multilateral institutions, followed by the MFA.
The MFA has 13 full-time employed staff and 19 full-time equivalents covered by staff working part-time on development co-operation, 64 % of which are based in Ljubljana and 36% of which are in country offices/embassies abroad.
An important mechanism for consulting stakeholders is the Expert Council, which advises the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs on development co-operation. It comprises representatives from ministries, foundations, CSOs, academia, businesses and others with experience in development co-operation. CSOs active in development co-operation, humanitarian assistance and global citizenship education co-ordinate through the umbrella body Platforma SLOGA (Slovenian Global Action).
The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation monitoring exercise tracks the implementation of the effectiveness commitments. Following a reform of the exercise during 2020-22, the 4th global monitoring round (2023-26) has resumed. Monitoring profiles for other providers are available here.
2020 OECD-DAC mid-term review of Slovenia: https://www.oecd.org/dac/peer-reviews/Slovenia-Mid-term-Review-Letter.pdf
2017 OECD-DAC peer review of Slovenia: http://www.oecd.org/dac/oecd-development-co-operation-peer-reviews-slovenia-2017-9789264279308-en.htm
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid: https://www.gov.si/en/state-authorities/ministries/ministry-of-foreign-and-european-affairs/about-the-ministry-of-foreign-and-european-affairs/directorate-for-development-cooperation-and-humanitarian-aid/
Resolution on Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance of the Republic of Slovenia: https://www.gov.si/assets/ministrstva/MZZ/Dokumenti/multilaterala/razvojno-sodelovanje/Resolution-on-development-cooperation-and-humanitarian-assistance-of-the-Republic-of-Slovenia.pdf
CSO umbrella organisation Platforma SLOGA (Slovenian Global Action): https://sloga-platform.org
Member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 2013.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable aid, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
Notes
← 1. DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2019 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.
← 2. Non-grants include sovereign loans, multilateral loans, equity investment and loans to the private sector.