The highest debts were generated by the two biggest municipalities. Ljubljana owed a total of EUR 219m at the end of 2012, followed by Maribor with EUR 56m in debt. Although smaller in size, the port town of Koper generated a debt equal to that of Maribor.

Measured by the number of residents, the small NE municipality of Gornji Petrovci has incurred the highest debt, amounting to EUR 1,740 per resident.

The municipality of Solčava (N) bears the second highest debt per capita, at EUR 1,334, followed by Koper, Kostel (S) and Šalovci (NE) at around EUR 1,000 per resident.

The 2012 municipality debt report was not drafted until the autumn of 2013 due to extensive data collection. It will now be discussed by the government.

The EUR 837m debt amounted to 40% of municipalities' total income in 2012. 78% of the debt was accounted for by municipalities themselves, while the rest was generated by their companies.

However, there were exceptions - 20 municipalities had no debt at the end of 2012; this figure was however lower than the year before.

The Finance Ministry approved loans worth a total of EUR 96.6m in 2012. The funds were used for utility and road infrastructure, the construction of kindergartens, schools, health stations and multi-purpose centres.

Despite the slight increase in the total debt of municipalities, the ministry does not believe the debt level to be critical. It is however concerned about individual municipalities that have been in debt for several years.