In our annual survey, the “Global Business Barometer”, the subsidiaries of Austrian companies in Slovakia were asked about their assessment of the economic situation in 2025 and 2026.
Overall, the results confirm that 2025 was not an easy year: over two thirds of participants stated that the economic situation in Slovakia has worsened – the deterioration in the general economic climate over the past 12 months was seen by a little less.
For 2026, the assessment for the general economic climate is better than last year’s future expectation with over a third of participants expecting an economic improvement or a stabilization. For Slovakia, expectations have slightly deteriorated: Less than a quarter of participants believe that the economic situation will remain stable or improve. We therefore see an overall cautious assessment for 2026, which is globally slightly more positive about the future than a look back at 2025 would suggest and with the chance that a more positive general development will also be noticeable in Slovakia.
Companies are particularly concerned about political stability, bureaucracy, the labor market, legal certainty, the public procurement procedures, public subsidies, purchasing power and the infrastructure in Slovakia, paired with the geopolitical conflicts and system competition between world powers. Availability and quality of local suppliers and partners are seen as the country's major advantages, together with access to credit and capital markets and the good payment behavior. In addition, Artificial Intelligence is seen as growing importance in companies in Slovakia.
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