Slovakia's industrial output growth accelerated to 7.5% y/y in September 2013 from a revised rise of 4.5% y/y in August on the back of expanding manufacturing sector, data from the country's statistics office showed.

Manufacturing production grew by 9.9% y/y in September, speeding up from revised 6.5% a month earlier and registering its strongest growth since Nov 2012. The sector's improved performance was mainly affected by a 23.4% increase in the manufacturing of basic metal and fabricated metal products, a 58.1% y/y surge in electrical equipment production and a 36.1% y/y rise in other manufacturing, repair and installation of machinery and equipment.

The output of the industry’s main growth driver – the car manufacturing sector – increased by 3.5% y/y in September following a revised 7.9% annual growth in the previous month. Auto manufacturing is the major driving force of the Slovak economy, with the country being home to three big car assembling plants run by Germany's Volkswagen, South Korea's Kia Motors and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The second most important engine of the Slovak industry, electronics production at plants run by South Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's Foxconn, posted a 3.9% y/y fall in output in September after declining by a revised 1% in August.

The manufacturing sector’s improved performance was partly offset by an 8.8% y/y drop in the utilities output, following a 6.9% annual fall in August. The mining industry’s output fell by 0.6% y/y in September after decreasing by 11.7% in the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, Slovakia's industrial output rose 1% in September, following a 0.7% growth in August.

For the first nine months of the year, the industrial production increased by 3.4% y/y.