Slovenia's growing export is pushing up gross domestic product (GDP) of the country that recorded 1.9 percent at an annual level in the first quarter, according to preliminary economic data by the Statistics Office on Friday.
The latest GDP data was down by 0.3 percent as compared with the fourth quarter of 2013, but expanded 1.5 percent year-on-year.
Thanks to the growth of external demand electrical devices and motor vehicles, Slovenia's export grew by 4.7 percent, said Anze Podnar, an expert of the the Statistics Office.
The Slovenian economy is increasingly dependent on foreign demand, he said, indicating the growth of export is "the engine of Slovenia's economy."
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development projected early this month a 0.3-percnt growth for Slovenia in 2014, and the growth is to accelerate to 1.2 percent in 2015.
Previously, the European Commission forecasted for Slovenia a growth of was 0.8 percent for this year and 1.4 percent for the next.
The International Monetary Fund projected in April that Slovenia's GDP growth will be boosted from 0.3 percent this year to 0.9 percent in 2015.