In Slovenia, nearly the same number of people are working as a year ago, but there are fewer domestic workers and more foreign ones.

Behind the overall figure, which is barely changing, there are also major differences among sectors. According to the report by the Slovenian Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (UMAR), published on 21 September, the number of economically active Slovenian citizens in July 2026 was 0.6% lower, while the number of foreign citizens increased by 2.9% compared with July 2025.

There are fewer domestic workers primarily due to retirement

UMAR links the decline in the number of domestic workers primarily to retirement. This is an important detail because the decline itself does not mean that Slovenian citizens were massively losing their jobs. At the same time, the number of foreign citizens working in Slovenia is increasing, which mitigates the reduction in the domestic labor force. The data include both employees and the self-employed, that is, also people who work for themselves.

Trade and manufacturing have fewer workers

The changes are clearly visible when looking at individual sectors. In trade, the number of economically active persons fell by 1.4%, and in manufacturing by 1.2%. Healthcare and social care show the opposite trend, with growth of 3.4%. While some sectors have fewer people than a year ago, others are increasing the number of workers.

More foreign workers does not mean overall employment growth

The total number of employees decreased by 0.2%, while there were 0.9% more self-employed people. Slovenia is therefore not recording a large increase in the number of people working, but rather a change in their composition.