The aim of the article is to provide an overview of the social economy development over three decades in Slovakia (between the years 1989 -2019) and to point out the natural environment of shaping this phenomenon as well as the current state and possibilities for further development. The essential features of the social economy development in Slovakia are: regional development in terms of reduction of unemployment and long-term unemployment, integration of disadvantaged groups of people into

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... labour market, new law on social economy and social enterprises, activities of self-governing bodies and implementation of common good activities that serve the community, the group of disadvantaged but also the region, while contributing to rural sustainability. As chosen methods, we especially used a theoretically-analytical approach appropriate to describe the present situation about unemployment and potential of social economy (using secondary data of official statistics). The paper aims at clearing the main problems of the social economy development in Slovakia, also reflecting the historical roots, and it points to the social economy potential future development.