Both inbound and outbound FDI stock recorded growth for the fifth consecutive year in 2018.

Inbound FDI stock grew by 8.6% compared to the end of 2017, and was even higher than the year before, when the rate was at 7.6%, to stop just under EUR 14 billion in FDI stock, according to Banka Slovenije.

Foreign-owned companies posted record profits last year, totalling to EUR 1.3 billion, which also led to the highest profit distribution, which reached a total of EUR 739 million. EUR 549 million was reinvested, which was 53.6% more than in 2017.

Average return on FDI stock reached 5.4%, slightly above the 2010-2017 period, when the figure was at 5.2%.

Foreign owners provided net financing to Slovenian firms between 1994 and 2018, while transactions in debt instruments increased the net debt to foreign owners by EUR 84 million overall in 2018, the bank said in the report.

Key sources of Slovenia's inbound FDI since 1994 have been Austria (EUR 3.6 billion), Luxembourg (EUR 2.1 billion), Switzerland (EUR 1.6 billion), Germany (EUR 1.4 billion) and Italy (EUR 1.2 billion).

Most of the inbound FDI stock has so far gone into the processing industry (EUR 2.7 million), finance and insurance (EUR 1.3 billion), retail, maintenance and motor vehicle repairs (EUR 1 billion).

Companies that received foreign FDI accounted for 1.6% of all Slovenian companies. Their return on equity was at 9.1%, compared to the average of 8.6%.

Average pay at companies that benefited from FDI was 9.3% above the national average, while value added was 8.8% higher than the Slovenian average.

Outbound FDI stock grew for the fifth consecutive year in 2018 to reach EUR 6.1 billion, with equity accounting for 77.7%. EUR 314 million was invested by Slovenian companies abroad last year, while another EUR 118 million in profit was also reinvested.

Return on outbound FDI stock was at 2.9% last year, up from 2.2% in the period between 2010 and 2017.

Key destinations of Slovenian outbound FDI have been Croatia (EUR 1.6 billion), Serbia (EUR 963 million), Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUR 525 million), North Macedonia (EUR 383 million) and Russia (EUR 357 million).