In 2024, Slovakia’s economy grew by 2.1% year-on-year, driven primarily by household consumption. Contributing factors included a stable labour market, lower inflation, and pre-emptive purchases ahead of a VAT increase in January 2025. Average inflation stood at 2.8%, with key downward pressure coming from food and non-alcoholic beverage prices as well as housing and energy costs. “The public sector deficit worsened for the second consecutive year. After rising from 1.7% of GDP in 2022 to 5.2% in 2023, it increased further to 5.3% of GDP in 2024,” noted SAO President Ľubomír Andrassy. The nominal deficit rose by €480 million to €6.9 billion. In 2024, Slovakia recorded the fourth-highest public finance deficit among EU member states—outperformed only by France, Poland, and Romania. The gross public debt per capita reached €14,328, an increase of €1,649 compared to the previous year. “Long-term deficit spending and fiscal policy risks have led to a downgrade in Slovakia’s international credit rating. This has increased the risk premium on Slovak bonds and consequently raised debt servicing costs, which grew by €116 million year-on-year to €1.2 billion,” added Andrassy.

A major factor affecting fiscal sustainability was spending on old-age pensions, early retirement pensions and 13th pension payments, totalling €10.5 billion—an increase of 14.8% year-on-year. Pension policy led to a deficit in the Social Insurance Agency, necessitating a record-high state transfer of €2.72 billion. The remaining shortfall was addressed by reallocating €2.89 billion from other primary insurance funds.

“The introduction of a universal 13th pension, parental pensions, indexation of old-age pensions, and early retirement after 40 years of work—implemented during a period of fiscal consolidation—exerted considerable pressure on the state budget and worsened its sustainability,” said Andrassy. He added that these multi-billion euro deficits threaten responsible financing of the system and shift the burden onto future generations. Last year, the average old-age pension amounted to €683.10, while the average early retirement pension was €733.15.

The healthcare sector continues to face long-standing, unresolved issues. Although public health insurance expenditure has risen faster than GDP since 2019, healthcare facility debt continues to grow. Total liabilities in the sector exceed €2 billion in principal. Due to delayed payments by healthcare facilities, Slovakia lost a legal dispute with the European Commission. “Based on a series of audits, we conclude that the core issue is not an acute lack of funding, but rather a non-transparent allocation of resources and the influence of lobbying interest groups. A fundamentally different approach is needed from the Ministry of Health as the main regulator, with maximum transparency in accounting for public funds—from insurers, through hospitals, to general practitioners and drug procurement,” the chief auditor summarised. “One of the key drivers of spending is the wage bill for doctors and healthcare staff, exacerbated by an unsustainable automatic pay mechanism,” he added.

Slovakia’s public finances are also under pressure from a multi-billion euro modernisation backlog—not only in healthcare and transport infrastructure but also in the environment and water management sectors.

On a positive note, public revenues in 2024 exceeded budget projections by €1.3 billion, or 1.1% of GDP. Key contributors included favourable developments in emissions quota markets, higher dividends from state-owned enterprises, and legislative changes such as the reduction in second-pillar pension contributions and increased health insurance levies. On the other hand, weaker macroeconomic performance and lower absorption of Recovery and Resilience Facility funds partially offset potential revenue growth. Tax revenues in 2024 were €90.8 million below budget, mainly due to lower VAT receipts (€177 million) and excise duties (€95 million), particularly on alcohol and tobacco. Social and health insurance contributions exceeded budget estimates by nearly €222 million and rose by €2 billion year-on-year. Social insurance revenue was boosted by hospital debt relief, yielding an additional €167 million, and increased collection of overdue premiums amounting to €50 million. Conversely, health insurance contributions from the economically active population fell short of the budget by almost €35 million.

In 2024, Slovakia also marked the 20th anniversary of its accession to the EU, during which time it has been a net beneficiary of EU funds totalling €25.6 billion. “However, we failed to draw available funds smoothly, with the highest spending always occurring at the end of the programming period. Paradoxically, last year the majority of funds used came from the closing 2014–2020 period. Based on several years of audit experience, we can state that Slovakia has squandered the development potential brought by European financial assistance,” emphasised Ľ. Andrassy. Real spending from the current 2021–2027 period only began last year, with just under €390 million drawn, representing 3% of the allocation. The national authority for external audit warns Members of Parliament that in the previous year, €1.2 billion was spent on unsustainable energy support, of which €437 million came from European sources. Total energy aid spending from 2022 to 2024 amounted to €4.2 billion. In 2024, funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan was used mainly for capital expenditures, with €785 million allocated to project implementation. The largest share—€222 million—was directed towards the construction, renovation and equipping of hospitals, specifically for the refurbishment or creation of new hospital beds. So far, Slovakia has met 32% of its milestones and targets, out of a total of 222.