Updated the 5th of March 2019

Regional gap in GDP per capita, 2000-16 Index of regional disparity in GDP per capita, 2016

The regional gap in GDP per capita increased in the Slovak Republic over the last sixteen years. Faster growth in the country’s richest region, Bratislava, has widened the gap to East Slovakia, the poorest region. GDP per capita in Bratislava is now almost 3.5 times higher than in East Slovakia. In 2016, the Slovak Republic had the fourth highest regional economic disparities among 30 OECD countries with comparable data.

Bratislava is not only the country’s most productive region but also recorded the highest productivity growth in 2000-16 at 3.7% per year. Youth unemployment is high in Slovakian regions compared to the OECD average, but it varies widely. In East Slovakia the youth unemployment rate (30%) was more than three times higher than in West Slovakia (9.8%) in 2017.

Productivity trends, most and least dynamic regions, 2000-16 Youth unemployment rate, 15-24 years old, 2007-17

Source: OECD Regional Database. Notes: (1) Figure on regional gap in GDP per capita: OECD regions refer to the administrative tier of subnational government (large regions, Territorial Level 2); the Slovak Republic is composed of four large regions. (2) Figure on index of regional disparity: top (bottom) 20% regions are defined as those with the highest (lowest) GDP per capita until the equivalent of 20% of national population is reached, this indicator provides a harmonised measure to rank OECD countries, using data for small regions (Territorial Level 3) when available. (3) Productivity is measured as GDP per employee at place of work in constant prices, constant Purchasing Power Parities (reference year 2010).

10 000

20 000

30 000

40 000

50 000

60 000

70 000

80 000

2000 2005 2010 2016

GDP per capita in USD PPP

Lowest regionEast Slovakia

Highest regionBratislava Region

20 175 USD

69 485 USD

36 373 USDSlovak Republic

1

2

3

4

Top 20 % richest over bottom 20% poorest regionsRatio

Country (number of regions considered)

Small regions(TL3)

Large regions (TL2)

2016 2000

Slovak Republic

40 000

50 000

60 000

70 000

80 000

90 000

100 000

110 000

2000 2005 2010 2016

GDP per worker in USD PPP

West: lowest productivity growth (+2.8% annually)

Bratislava: highest productivity growth (+3.7% annually)

Bratislava: highest productivity in 2016 and highest productivity growth(+3.7% average annual growth over 2000-16)

OECD

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2007 2012 2017

rate (%)

Lowest rateWest Slovakia

Highest rateEast Slovakia

9.8%

30%

18.9%Slovak Republic

Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018 – SLOVAK REPUBLIC http://www.oecd.org/regional

Economic trends in regions

Updated the 5th of March 2019

Relative ranking of the regions with the best and worst outcomes in the 11 well-being dimensions, with respect to all 402 OECD regions. The eleven dimensions are ordered by decreasing regional disparities in the country. Each well-being dimension is measured by the indicators in the table below.

All four regions of the Slovak Republic are in the top 20% OECD regions in education, but all four are in the bottom 20% in terms of environment and housing. In terms of jobs, large disparities are observed: Bratislava is in the top 20% of OECD regions whereas East Slovakia is among the bottom 20%.

The high performing Slovakian regions fare better than the OECD median region in five out of thirteen well-being indicators: employment and unemployment rates, broadband access, community, labour force with at least a secondary degree and homicide rate. In the low performing regions, voter turnout is around 15 percentage points below the OECD median.

Source: OECD Regional Database. Visualisation: https://www.oecdregionalwellbeing.org. Notes: (1) OECD regions refer to the first administrative tier of subnational government (large regions, Territorial Level 2); the Slovak Republic is composed of four large regions. (2) Household income per capita data are based on USD constant PPP, constant prices (year 2010).

BratislavaRegion

BratislavaRegion

BratislavaRegion

CentralSlovakia

BratislavaRegion

BratislavaRegion

BratislavaRegion

BratislavaRegion

CentralSlovakia

East Slovakia BratislavaRegion

East Slovakia

East Slovakia

WestSlovakia

WestSlovakia

East Slovakia

East Slovakia

Central Slovakia

CentralSlovakia

BratislavaRegion

WestSlovakia East Slovakia

Jobs Income Access toservices

Community Education CivicEngagement

Health LifeSatisfaction

Safety Environment Housing

Top region Bottom region

Ra

nkin

g o

f O

EC

D r

eg

ion

s(1

to

40

2)

top

20

%b

otto

m 2

0%

mid

dle

60

%

Bratislava Region Regions (Zoskupenia krajov)

Top 20% Bottom 20%

Jobs

Employment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 66.4 67.7 72.7 60.6

Unemployment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 8.2 5.5 4.8 12.1

Income

Disposable income per capita (in USD PPP), 2016 12 999 17 695 16 805 11 167

Access to services

Households w ith broadband access (%), 2017 79.0 78.0 83.2 76.0

Community

Perceived social netw ork support (%), 2013 90.0 91.4 91.3 87.4

Education

Labour force w ith at least upper secondary education (%), 2017 93.7 81.7 96.2 91.5

Civic engagement

Voters in last national election (%), 2017 or lastest year 61.3 70.9 64.3 55.1

Health

Life Expectancy at birth (years), 2016 77.3 80.4 78.2 77.0

Age adjusted mortality rate (per 1 000 people), 2016 10.3 8.1 9.7 10.5

Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction (scale from 0 to 10), 2013 5.9 6.8 6.3 6.0

Safety

Homicide Rate (per 100 000 people), 2016 1.1 1.3 1.0 1.3

Environment

Level of air pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³), 2015 21.3 12.4 19.9 22.0

Housing

Rooms per person, 2016 1.1 1.8 1.1 1.0

Slovak regionsCountry

Average

OECD median

region

Differences in well-being across regions

Updated the 5th of March 2019

OECD population is concentrated in cities* Percentage of population in cities, 2016

Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of cities: eight in the Slovak Republic and 1 138 in the OECD.

In the Slovak Republic, 35% of the population lives in cities of more than 50 000 inhabitants. The share of population in cities with more than 500 000 people is 12% compared to 55% in the OECD area.

Importance of metropolitan areas Cities above 500 000 people, 2016

Contribution of metropolitan areas to GDP growth Cities above 500 000 people, 2000-16

The metropolitan area of Bratislava accounts for 28% of national GDP. Between 2000 and 2016 it generated 32% of the national GDP growth.

In terms of GDP per capita, Bratislava is among the top 5% OECD metropolitan areas, ranking 11th out of 327 metropolitan areas.

Bratislava is among the 25% OED metropolitan areas with the highest air pollution in terms of PM 2.5 levels.

OECD Metropolitan areas ranking Cities above 500 000 people

GDP per capita, 2016

Air pollution (PM2.5), 2017

Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of metropolitan areas with a population of over 500 000: one in the Slovak Republic compared to 327 in the OECD.

* Note: Cities are defined here as functional urban areas, which are composed by high-density urban centres of at least 50 000 people and their areas of influence (commuting zone). For more information, see: http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/functionalurbanareasbycountry.htm.

12%

7%

16%

65%

United Statespeople in citieswith population above 500 000

peopleoutside cities

United States

people in cities withpopulation between50 000 and 250 000

5.4 million people - 35% live in cities

United StatesSlovak Republic

people in cities with population between 250 000 and 500 000

OECD average

1.2 billion people - 70%live in cities

people in citieswith population

above 500 000

people in cities withpopulation between

50 000 and 250 000

peopleoutside cities

55%

9%

30%

people in cities with populationbetween 250 000 and 500 000

6%

28%19%

12%

63%58% 55%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% of nationalGDP

% of nationalemployment

% of nationalpopulation

Slovak Republic OECD average%

32%

68%

Bra

tisla

va

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1 2

%

All metropolitan areas Largest contributor

Slovak Republic OECD average

32

7 m

etr

op

olit

an

are

as

0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000USD PPP

Top 20% richest metropolitan areas

Bottom 20% poorest metropolitan areas

0

10

20

30

Lev el of air pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³)

Top 20% least polluted metropolitan areas

Bottom 20% most polluted metropolitan areas

Metropolitan areas in the national economy

Updated the 5th of March 2019

Subnational government expenditure by function As a share of total subnational government expenditure, 2016

Subnational government expenditure amounts to USD 1 998 per capita in the Slovak Republic compared to an OECD average of USD 6 817. In the Slovak Republic, this is equivalent to 15.8% of total public expenditure and to 6.6% of GDP. In comparison, across the OECD, subnational government expenditure accounts for 40.4% of total public expenditure and for 16.2% of GDP. Education and the function ‘Other’ (housing and community amenities, recreation, culture and religion; environment; public order and safety) are the two largest spending items for subnational governments in the Slovak Republic: together they represent 57% of subnational expenditure compared to 40% in the OECD area.

In the Slovak Republic, 19.6% of total public investment was carried out by subnational governments compared to an OECD average of 56.9%.

Role of subnational governments in public investment Subnational government public investment per capita, 2016

Source: OECD Subnational Government Structure and Finance Database.

OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018

The 2018 edition of OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance shows how regions and cities contribute to national growth and the well-being of societies. It updates its regular set of region-by-region indicators, examining a wide range of policies and trends and identifying those regions that are outperforming or lagging behind in their country.

Consult this publication on line: https://oe.cd/pub/2n9

Health 3% 18% Health

General public services 13% 14% General public services

Social protection 7% 14% Social protection

Other 21% 15% Other

Economic affairs 20% 14% Economic affairs

EducationEducation 36% 25%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Slovak Republic OECD average

Subnational expenditure per capita: USD 1 998 USD 6 817

0

200

400

600

800

1 000

1 200

1 400

Total public investmentUSD 1 053 per capita3.5% of GDP

Total public investmentUSD 1 278 per capita3.0% of GDP

Subnational governmentinvestmentUSD 206 per capita19.6% of public invest.

USD per capita

Subnational government investmentUSD 727 per capita 56.9% of public invest.

OECD averageSlovak Republic

Subnational government finance