On a 12-month basis, it grew by 5.2 percent in November, a slowdown from 8.1-percent growth in October, the Slovak Statistics office said.

Annual output was fuelled by a 23.3-percent surge in car production at plants run by South Korea's Kia Motors, Germany's Volkswagen and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen.

Car production, the driving force of this central European economy of 5.4 million which joined the EU in 2004 and the eurozone in 2009, grew steadily last year despite tough economic times in Europe, where auto exports are destined.

Electronics production at plants run by South Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's Foxconn added 0.5 percent in November after expanding by 2.8 percent in September.

The European Commission expects this auto and electronics-based economy, driven by foreign demand notably from Germany, will grow by 2.0 percent this year, making it one of the eurozone's top performers after expanding by an estimated 2.6 percent in 2012.