This places Slovenia in the 45th spot among the 54 participating nations and in the 13th spot in Europe.

Globally, early-stage entrepreneurial activity was the highest in Ecuador (29.6%), Guatemala (24.8%) and Peru (24.6%), while in Europe it was the highest in Estonia (19.4%) and Latvia (14.2%).

Placed the lowest in Europe are Bulgaria (3.7%) and France (3.9%), according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey.

The head of the Slovenian part of the survey, Miroslav Rebernik, said that the drop in Slovenia was a consequence of a high economic growth and the related spike in employment.

Numerous individuals who would otherwise try their luck and know-how in an entrepreneurial endeavour opted instead to get a job in the safer environment of companies that had already been established, he added.

"The early stages of entrepreneurship which are monitored by the TEA index, are exceptionally vulnerable and a lot of entrepreneurial ideas fade out even before the formal establishment of a business and its entry to the market."

Slovenia meanwhile placed 34th in terms of the share of early-stage entrepreneurs encouraged to start an entrepreneurial activity by business opportunities, the Maribor Faculty of Economics and Business said in a press release as it presented the survey.

Some 73% of adult Slovenians believe that successful entrepreneurs are well accepted in the society and enjoy a high reputation, which places Slovenia in the 5th place in Europe.

While the share of people in Slovenia who expect good business opportunities in the near future (35%) has been increasing in recent years, the country is still in the 40th place globally and in the 12th place in Europe.