LJUBLJANA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreign citizens employed in Slovenia reached a record high in June, standing at around 148,900, or 16.1 percent of the country's total workforce, the Slovenian Statistical Office said Tuesday.
The population of foreign workers rose from 15.8 percent a year earlier to 16.1 percent this year. Compared with May, the figure was up 0.4 percent, and 1.8 percent higher year-on-year, the office said.
By contrast, the number of Slovenian citizens in employment declined by 0.7 percent year-on-year.
Across all sectors, the strongest employment growth was recorded in the human health and social work sector, up 3.3 percent year-on-year, while manufacturing posted the steepest decline, with the number of employees dropping 1.9 percent from June 2024.
Most foreign workers in Slovenia come from other states of the former Yugoslavia, which once covered the present regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Separate data from the Employment Service showed that in July, the largest number of work permits for foreign citizens was issued in the construction, manufacturing, transport, and warehousing sectors.
Institutions in Slovenia have warned that labor shortages are becoming increasingly acute, partly because the number of young people entering the workforce is significantly smaller than the generation now reaching retirement age. ■
