Abstract:

Economic and social cohesion is within the European Union one of the main operational priorities that is achieved mainly through the promotion of growth-enhancing conditions and reduction of disparities among the levels of development of EU member states. Between 2000 and 2008 Slovakia grew by almost 6% per year in terms of GDP per capita terms. As a result, Slovakia substantially narrowed the performance gap that separated it from more developed European countries; however the crises in 2008 significantly slowed down economic growth and has led to the suspension of catch-up process of Slovakia. The aim of this paper is to analyse the convergence of the Slovak economy through the development of the main indicators and to find the sources of this slowdown and examines the primary challenges to future growth.