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. Available quantities for human consumption per capita by 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. 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 among 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, potatoes and pig meat. 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. (Zeleno poročilo ..., 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 available quantities of agricultural products in Slovenia are compared between the period before EU accession (2000–2003), the post-accession period (2004–2018) and the most recent years (2019–2023). 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 like cereals, vegetables and fruit it did not exceed 60%. In the post-accession period (2004–2018), 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 pressure on prices (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 (2019–2023), Slovenia had surpluses in milk, beef, poultry meat and grain maize production. A high level of self-sufficiency was on average also achieved in eggs (95%). The largest deficit in production, which had to be covered by imports, was in fruit (self-sufficiency: 25%), vegetables (41%), potatoes (45%), pig meat (40%) and honey (46%). 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 honey (–59%) and pig meat (–40%) has decreased the most, while it has remained at similar levels for vegetables, beef, poultry meat and eggs. Only for cereals (+31%) and milk (+17%), the level of self-sufficiency was 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.

A comparison of self-sufficiency rates for cereals between Slovenia and the 15 European Union member states and Turkey shows large differences between countries. In 2022, the highest self-sufficiency rates were achieved in the Baltic states: Lithuania (374%), Latvia (348%) and Estonia (286%), followed by Bulgaria (278%) and Croatia (194%). Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Finland, Germany and Hungary 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 75%). Lower self-sufficiency levels than in Slovenia were in 2022 in Greece (67%), Ireland (51%), Italy (46%) and Portugal (18%).

Like self-sufficiency rates, the available quantities of agricultural products for human consumption in Slovenia fluctuate from year to year. The upward trend is the most evident for vegetables, as in the period of the last few years (2019–2023), compared to the pre-accession period (2000–2003), available quantities per capita increased by 44%, namely from 78 to 112 kg. The available quantities of fruit (+27%; to 126 kg per capita) and eggs (+18%; to 11 kg per capita) also increased. On the other hand, the available quantities of potatoes decreased the most in relative terms (–17%; from 81 to 67 kg per capita), while they decreased for milk the most in quantitative terms. In the period of the last few years, each inhabitant of Slovenia had on average 207 kg of milk available in all forms, which is 24 kg less than in the pre-accession period. The available quantities of cereals for food are also decreasing, amounting to an average of 116 kg per capita, which is 12 kg less than in the pre-accession period. Average available quantities of meat for human consumption have decreased slightly between the two analysed periods (–4%; to 88 kg per capita), mainly due to smaller quantities of pig meat. On the other hand, available quantities of poultry meat have shown an increasing trend, averaging about 32 kg per capita in recent years.

Presented self-sufficiency 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 was on average 41% in the recent period and has not yet exceeded 50%, while the level of self-sufficiency in pig meat has remained at an average of 40% and is far below the set goal of 70%.

Slovenia faces many challenges in achieving an adequate level of food self-sufficiency, such as lower productivity of agricultural sector, poor income situation of farms, aging rural population, abandonment of farming, overgrowth and permanent loss of agricultural land, a large share of less favoured areas, climatic and environmental challenges. It will be crucial for the country's self-sufficiency to maintain the extent of agricultural land and its production potential, improve the income situation of farms, as well as invest in agricultural infrastructure and adapt to climate change. The main agricultural policy instrument for achieving these goals is income support for farmers (including young farmers) and payments for natural or other constraints (Poročilo ..., 2023).