Ljubljana - Slovenia imported six times more personal protective and medical equipment in the first nine months of 2020 than in the whole of 2019, the Statistics Office has said.

Slovenia imported EUR 175 million worth of protective and medical equipment between January and September, which was also seven times more than in the entire 2018.

67.4% all products imported are in the group of other finished textile products, which includes protective face masks. Gloves accounted for 15.4% of imported products and ventilators for 8.9%, while other wearable items, which includes surgery gowns accounted for 8.3%.

The import of goods in the group of other finished textile products was highest in April, when Slovenia imported protective masks worth more than EUR 50 million.

Slovenia imported EUR 27 million worth of gloves in the first nine months, compared to EUR 8 million in 2019. 43% of the gloves were imported from Malaysia, 21% from China and 5% each from Croatia and Germany.

The import of ventilators amounted to nearly EUR 16 million in the first nine months of the year, which was EUR 10 million more than in 2019. 57% of the ventilators were imported from China and 25% from Germany.

Last year, 54% of all ventilators imported came from Germany, and 11% each from Switzerland and Italy, Statistics Office data also show.