Most recently, the V4 countries compare over 40 indicators on education, health, transportation and energy as well as in the technology trends
Over the past decade, Slovakia has become the leader of the
Visegrád Four countries in employing people working in high- or medium-high technology sectors and in knowledge-intensive service sectors. In 2017, up to 45,6 % of the total employment in Slovakia were employed in such sectors. Hungary was at the second position (44,9 %) followed by Czechia (44,7 %) and Poland (37,2 %).
At the same time, the Slovak Republic has also achieved the most significant leap over the last ten years, the number of employed in the
above-mentioned “value-added” sectors has increased by 5,8 percentage points
since 2008. Thus Slovakia has approached the EU-wide share.
These findings are presented in a new publication of the Statistical Office of the SR, comparing approximately 40 indicators from different areas of life in the V4 countries, which was recently published by the Statistical Office of the SR. Indicators were selected from various statistics, which are indicators for the 2030 Agenda.
Where else is the SR in the forefront?
Slovakia has the most significant position also in other parameters within the V4 region. For example, in the area of education, the Slovak Republic had the second largest proportion of women aged 30-34 with tertiary education. With the share 42,4 % (year 2017) we approached the EU average.
Slovakia also had the second largest share of agricultural land used for organic farming, 9,9 % in 2017, which was 2,9. p.p. above the EU average.
The
use of the rail and inland waterways in freight transport was 38,3 % which is also higher than in Poland, Hungary or Czechia (data from 2016). All the V4 countries are above the EU average, most notably Slovakia by 14,7 p.p.
The Slovaks regard
themselves as people with good or very good health, 71,1 % of men and 63,4 % of women felt in good health.
In what fields should Slovakia improve?
On the other hand, in the other indicators of the V4 countries´ rankings, Slovakia is ranked among the worst. Compared with the Visegrád
neighbours, Slovakia has the lowest
proportion of children
participating in early childhood education, only 76,5 % in 2017. We are lagging behind the EU average by 18,8. p.p.
There are also difficulties relating to the employment of recent graduates of any education, the employment of the Slovak
graduates is the lowest during the first three years after obtaining a degree. Only 87,6 % of men and 75,6 % of women find an employment. A much larger proportion of those finding work right after the completion of education was reached especially in Czechia and Hungary.
There is also the
smallest male population in Slovakia with a tertiary degree in the age group 30-34. Only every fourth man (26,7 %) in the above-mentioned group has a university degree. Thus, Slovakia is lagging behind the EU average by 8,2 p.p.
In research and development, we had the lowest expenditure and employment in 2017. The expenditure accounted for 0,88 % of GDP, while the EU average was 2,07 %. Employment in 2017 reached 0,7 %, while the EU average was 1,27 %.
The publication of the Visegrád Group Countries: Selected Indicators of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was prepared by the Statistical Office of the SR in cooperation with the national statistical offices of the V4 countries on the occasion of the Slovak Presidency in Visegrad Four.
The development programme for the international community - the 2030 Agenda was adopted by the UN in order to document the state of countries and the world for a better life on the planet. It defines specific topics from people's lives where improvements in education, health, environment, poverty reduction and enhancement of social inclusion are to be monitored over the long term, as well as improvements in the field of rule of law and security.
The V4 countries - Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia have 64,3 million inhabitants (12,5 % of the EU population) with an area of 533,6 thousand km2 (almost 12 % of the EU area). The data are as of 31 December 2017. Slovakia takes the chair of the Visegrád Group from July 2018 until the end of June 2019 under the slogan - Dynamic Visegrád for Europe.
