€734mn worth of dividends were paid in Slovenia in 2017 which was 8.3% more than in 2016, the statistical office announced on June 11.

The dividends payments increase in 2017 follows an improvement of 23.7% in 2016 compared with 2015. Dividends in 2016 jumped from €548mn in 2015 to €678mn.

Dividends paid by the financial corporate sector contributed the most to the final amount in 2017 and stood at €389mn. This was equal to 53% of all payments. According to the statistical office’s newest data, most was paid to the government sector (€176mn or 45.2%) and the rest of the world category (€145mn or 37.3%).

In 2017, the non-financial corporations sector in Slovenia paid a total of €345mn, which was 47.0% of all payments. As in the case of the financial corporations sector, non-financial corporations also made the most payments to the general government sector, which amounted to €103mn or 29.9% of the total, followed by households (€83mn or 24.0%), and non-financial corporations (€67mn or 19.3% of all payments).

As in 2016, the general government sector did not pay any dividends in 2017, statistical office said.

Most dividends in 2017 were paid to the Slovenian general government sector and totalled €279mn or 38% of all payments. This was followed by the rest of the world sector (€203mn), households (€95mn), financial corporations (€77mn) and non-financial corporations (€73mn). The lowest amount was paid to non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH), €7mn or 1% of all payments.