The self-sufficiency rate is defined as the extent to which a country’s domestic production is able to meet the total domestic demand (including food, feed, and industrial consumption). A self-sufficiency rate of less than 100% means a deficit that must be covered by imports, and a self-sufficiency rate of more than 100% means a surplus in domestic supply.

The indicator shows the level of self-sufficiency for the following agricultural products in Slovenia: meat, by main types and total, eggs, potatoes, cereals, by main types and total, vegetables, fruit, milk, and honey. Self-sufficiency rates are shown only at the level of individual agricultural products, but not at the aggregated food level. Per capita consumption of agricultural products and a comparison of self-sufficiency rates for cereals between Slovenia and some countries are also presented.

Countries can achieve food security through two mechanisms: self-sufficiency or imports from other countries. Self-sufficiency indicates the extent to which the country is able to provide the necessary quantities of food through domestic production. This is very important in ensuring the availability of food to the population, especially in conditions of disrupted international trade and strong price fluctuations in foreign markets. Self-sufficiency presents not only the basis for food security, but also allows the use of own production resources, maintains rural employment and cultivation, reduces poverty, and is important for human health and the environment. A higher level of self-sufficiency reduces the need for food imports, which also contributes to the reduction in emissions due to shorter transport distances (Revizijsko poročilo …, 2021).

Slovenia is one of the countries that are net importers of food, as domestic production does not fully cover the total domestic needs. The level of self-sufficiency for animal products is generally higher than the level of self-sufficiency for crops, while the lowest levels are on average recorded for vegetables, fruit and potatoes. Self-sufficiency rates in crop production are characterized by significant year-to-year fluctuations due to more or less abundant harvests (total amount of crops), which are also strongly influenced by extreme weather conditions, such as drought, frost, etc. (Travnikar et al., 2022). Global megatrends show that the increasingly variable climate in the future may negatively affect food production in terms of quantity and quality, thereby increasing Slovenia's dependence on the world markets (Sadauskis et al., 2019).

Self-sufficiency rates as well as per capita consumption of agricultural products in Slovenia are compared between the period before EU accession (2000–2003), the post-accession period (2004–2016) and the most recent years (2017–2021). Prior to EU accession, Slovenia was on average self-sufficient in milk and honey, and almost completely self-sufficient in eggs and meat. Of the individual types of meat, self-sufficiency was achieved in beef and poultry meat, while the self-sufficiency rate of pig meat was 81%. Average self-sufficiency in potatoes was also high (78%), while for other agricultural products it did not exceed 60%. In the post-accession period (2004–2013), the self-sufficiency rate of meat, potatoes, fruit and honey decreased more noticeably. In the case of potatoes and fruit, the reason is in reduced production volumes and extreme weather conditions, while self-sufficiency in meat was lower due to the significant decline in pig meat production. The latter declined due to slow structural changes, weak competitiveness, and price pressure (cheaper imports of foreign pig meat). A year after accession to the EU, a reform of the EU sugar market was adopted, which led to the closure of the sugar factory in Slovenia. Since then, no sugar has been produced in Slovenia, while before the adoption of reform, the self-sufficiency rate was on average 50%. In recent years (2017–2021), Slovenia had surpluses in milk, beef and poultry meat production. A high level of self-sufficiency was on average also achieved in grain maize (96%) and eggs (95%). The largest deficit in production, which had to be covered by imports, was in fruit, vegetables, potatoes, pig meat and honey. Compared to the pre-accession period (2000–2003), the level of self-sufficiency has decreased significantly in recent years for meat, potatoes, fruit and honey. Self-sufficiency in fruit, honey and pig meat has decreased the most (by more than half), while it has remained at similar levels for vegetables, beef, poultry meat and eggs. Only for cereals and milk, the level of self-sufficiency is significantly higher. In the case of cereals, an upward trend can be observed throughout the analysed period for all the main types (rye, barley and maize), except for wheat.

The data show that Slovenia has not met the goals set in the Strategic plan on implementing the resolution on strategic guidelines for agricultural and food industry development by 2020. The self-sufficiency in vegetables is slowly increasing but has not yet exceeded 50%, while the level of self-sufficiency in pig meat has remained at an average of 40% in recent years.

A comparison of self-sufficiency rates for cereals between Slovenia and the 16 European Union member states and Turkey shows large differences between countries. In 2020, the highest self-sufficiency rates were achieved in the Baltic states: Lithuania (520%), Latvia (415%) and Estonia (294%), followed by Bulgaria (237%) and Hungary (182%). Croatia, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Germany and Finland were also self-sufficient. Among the analysed countries, Slovenia ranked in the bottom third (13^th place) in terms of self-sufficiency in cereals (self-sufficiency rate 93%). Lower self-sufficiency levels than in Slovenia were in 2020 in Greece (66%), Italy (51%), Ireland (42%) and Portugal (20%).

Like self-sufficiency rates, the per capita consumption of agricultural products in Slovenia fluctuates from year to year. The upward trend in human consumption is the most evident for vegetables, as in the period of the last few years (2017–2021) compared to the pre-accession period (2000–2003), consumption increased by 48%, namely from 78 to 115 kg per capita. The consumption of fruit (+28%; to 128 kg per capita) and eggs (+18%; to 11 kg per capita) also increased. On the other hand, the consumption of potatoes decreased the most in relative terms (–20%; to 65 kg per capita), while the consumption of milk decreased the most in quantitative terms. In the period of the last few years, each inhabitant of Slovenia consumed an average of 210 kg of milk in all forms, which is 21 kg less than in the pre-accession period. The consumption of cereals for food is also decreasing, amounting to an average of 119 kg per capita in recent years, which is 9 kg less than in the pre-accession period. Average meat consumption has decreased slightly between the two analysed periods (–2%; to 91 kg per capita), mainly due to lower consumption of pig meat. On the other hand, consumption of poultry meat has shown an increasing trend, averaging about 31 kg per capita in recent years.