Prešeren Day, the Slovene Cultural Holiday

In 2020, the government spent EUR 214 per person on culture, while each individual spent on average EUR 177

In 2020, culture contributed 1% to gross domestic product (GDP), while total government expenditure on culture was also 1%.

3 February 2022 at 10:30
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Ida Repovž Grabnar
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8 February, Prešeren Day, has been celebrated as the day of culture since 1945, as a national holiday since 1946 and has been a work-free day since 1991.

Persons in paid employment and self-employed persons in culture

At the end of November 2021, of all persons in paid employment in Slovenia 28,587 were employed or self-employed in cultural activities in the broader sense. Compared to December 2020, the number went up by 48.

Among persons in paid employment and self-employed persons in culture, 15,889 were performing one of the 20 typical cultural occupations. This is how many of them were entered at the end of November 2021 in the Statistical Register of Employment: 63% of them were in paid employment and 37% were self-employed. In the past seven years the total number of persons in the mentioned occupations has increased by 22%, while their structure as regards the employment status has not changed much (in December 2014, 65% of them were in paid employment and 35% were self-employed).

How much is spent on culture?

In 2020, the government spent on cultre – i.e. for the functioning of libraries, museums, galleries, theatres, for concert, stage and film production, for monuments and memorial houses, cultural celebrations, subsidies to artists, services of radio, television and publishing – in total just over EUR 449 million, which was 1% of GDP. In the last decade, government expenditure on culture was declining in nominal terms until 2016, but has increased slightly in recent years. However, despite this modest growth, the share of expenditure relative to GDP continues to be at 1%.

In other words: total per capita government expenditure on culture in 2020 was EUR 214 (EUR 17 less than in 2010) and each individual spent on culture on average EUR 177 (EUR 18 more than in 2010). For comparison, in 2019 each individual spent on average EUR 218, the reason for the decline being the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Contribution of culture to GDP

In the past ten years, the contribution of culture expressed as a share of value added in GDP was roughly in proportion to the amount of funds allocated by the government to culture. In the period when government expenditure was 1.2% or 1.3%, the share of culture in total GDP was 1.1% or 1.2%. In recent years, when public expenditure on culture as a share of GDP has been lower, this has been followed by a smaller contribution of culture to GDP.