By: Vida Kocjan
Since the beginning of the current government’s term (Svoboda, SD and Levica), food prices have risen by approximately 33 percent. Over the past year, according to OECD data, Slovenia has been among the EU countries with the highest growth in food prices. Food prices in Slovenia are rising abnormally also, or perhaps primarily, because of Robert Golob’s government.
In October 2025, food prices in Slovenia rose by 6.8 percent year‑on‑year, and in November by around 5 percent. Compared with other EU countries, food prices in Slovenia are increasing abnormally fast. For comparison: in the past year, food prices rose by 2 percent in Germany, 1.4 percent in France, 2.5 percent in Italy, and between 6 and 6.8 percent in Slovenia. Across Europe as a whole, food price growth is lower, around 3 percent. This means that food price growth in Slovenia is roughly double that of other countries – a fact that greatly concerns us.
Slovenia has the fastest‑growing food prices in the EU
Suzana Lep Šimenko (SDS) also pointed this out during parliamentary questions to Prime Minister Robert Golob at the beginning of last week, noting that the latest OECD data for Slovenia is not encouraging. She emphasised that OECD figures reveal an unpleasant truth: Slovenia has the fastest‑rising food prices in the European Union. She added that inflation during the government led by Robert Golob has increased by more than 20 percent, while food prices have risen by as much as 33 percent. She also noted that, in addition to food, the prices of housing, energy, services, clothing, and footwear are rising. All essentials for Slovenian households. Those with lower incomes feel the increases most strongly, but even people earning the average wage are struggling due to rising costs. On top of that, average‑income earners do not receive substantial social transfers, including adequate child benefits. They pay full prices for childcare and school meals, so with all other expenses, they barely make it through the month.
Purchasing power is falling
Suzana Lep Šimenko reminded Golob that in September he told the National Assembly that the government could not ignore the rise in food prices. However, the government has done nothing to reduce prices, so the MP asked Golob what they had actually done, and answered herself: “Absolutely nothing. You already acknowledged this yourselves and were aware of it,” she added, noting that beef has become 25 percent more expensive. She asked: “What have you done in this area? Absolutely nothing. The cost of living under your government is rising from month to month. Food prices and the prices of essential goods and services are going up, while wages and pensions are falling in real terms, which means that the purchasing power of the population is declining.”
She continued: “When we speak with farmers, they tell us that their costs are increasing, while the purchase prices of their products are not keeping up, yet on store shelves we are buying expensive food.” What will the government do to curb food prices, and why have they done nothing so far? What will they do to ensure more Slovenian food on Slovenian shelves, and what will they do to increase self‑sufficiency? These were the questions the prime minister should have answered clearly and precisely. Did he? Far from it. Among other things, he said that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food has long had an expert commission which found that throughout the entire supply chain (from farmers to processors, distributors, and retailers), everyone raised the prices of meat and meat products by roughly the same amount, that everyone trading in meat in Slovenia “earned equally well.” According to him, the rise in meat prices is calming down and “will continue to calm down in the coming months.” Golob did not speak about other food prices and related increases. Instead, he boasted that incomes, that is, wages, in Slovenia are rising, supposedly faster than inflation.
Suzana Lep Šimenko did not give up. She explained: “Pensions and wages have fallen in real terms. If you look at wage growth in the public sector and think that this represents wage growth in Slovenia, then you are very mistaken. It is true that average wages are somewhat higher because of increases in the public sector. But if we look at the private sector, we see that wages have fallen in real terms. It is a similar story with pensions.” She added that citizens, especially homemakers, know best how quickly food prices are rising, because when they go to the store each week, they can bring home fewer products for the same amount of money, or they must pay significantly more for a similar basket of goods. Therefore, food‑price inflation in Slovenia has not eased in the slightest. Lep Šimenko asked where the concrete measures were that Robert Golob had already announced in September, and above all, what the government plans to do going forward. “You will wait for things to sort themselves out, if they do, or if they do not,” she said. There was no concrete answer regarding measures, but Golob insisted that purchasing power in Slovenia has not decreased during his government’s term. He cautiously hid behind the phrase “according to findings by experts in food science.”
Prices are also rising because of higher taxes
Food prices and the prices of other essential goods in Slovenia are also rising sharply due to increasingly heavy tax burdens. The government generally blames these price increases on global raw‑material costs, and even the term “climate change” is used conveniently. Golob, meanwhile, indirectly accused all parts of the food supply chain, from farmers to processors and retailers, of contributing to the increases. But all of them, led by Golob, deliberately fail to mention the high tax burdens, which are also reflected in labour costs. No one in the government wants to hear anything about taxes. Taxes in Slovenia have therefore increased abnormally during Golob’s term, with growth among the highest in the EU and OECD.