SLOVAKIA’s economy grew by 0.9 percent in the third quarter of this year, the data of the Statistics Office show, confirming its flash estimate from November, the SITA newswire reported.
The year-on-year increase in GDP slowed by 1 percentage point in November, but nevertheless remained the fastest quarterly growth in 2013 given that economic output rose by 0.5 percent in the first quarter and by 0.8 percent in the second quarter, SITA wrote.
The Slovak economy also maintained quarterly growth, which was 0.2 percent when factoring seasonal influences. In absolute figures, the volume of generated GDP reached €18.996 billion in the third quarter of this year. In terms of current prices, this was a y/y rise of 1.1 percent.
GDP generated in Slovakia over the first three quarters of 2013 amounted to €53.741 billion.
The Slovak economy’s growth was mainly fuelled by an increase in foreign demand in the observed period, SITA wrote. Bank analysts had expected a 1.1 percent y/y GDP increase in Q3 but they kept slashing their estimates over the past months and in November they projected 0.9 percent real growth. Regarding the prognosis for the whole of 2013, bank analysts anticipate 0.8 percent GDP growth.
