In 2014 Slovenia's economy grew by 3%.

Towards the end of the year growth was driven by domestic consumption, which rose 2.1% year-on-year and was propelled by a 3.7% increase in the final quarter.

Household spending rose 1.7% at the annual level, up a percentage point over the year before and the fastest pace since 2008.

Government spending inched up 0.7%, the first increase since 2009. Gross capital formation slowed to 4.4% from 5.7% in the year before.

Exports, long the main engine of growth, slowed down to 5.2% from 5.8%, while imports accelerated slightly to 4.4%.

The Statistics Office said exports remain the main generator of growth, but domestic spending is becoming increasingly important.

The value added of the economy rose 2.9% year-on-year, having accelerated since the second quarter.

Manufacturing is the main driving force of added value with a 5.8% increase, while added value in construction was down 3.3% annually after five consecutive quarters of decline.

The headline growth figure outpaces all domestic and international projections, which ranged from 2.3% (IMF) to 2.7% (IMAD).

It also exceeded average growth in the EU for the ninth consecutive quarter, according to Anže Podnar of the department for national accounts.

GDP at current prices totalled EUR 38.54bn, meaning that it has finally exceeded the pre-crisis level of EUR 37.95bn.

Technically speaking, Slovenia had been out of recession since the third quarter of 2013, Podnar noted.

The Statistics Office also slightly revised the annual growth figure for the third quarter of the year, by 0.1 points to 2.6%.

The full-year figure for 2015 will undergo revision in August; last year the figure for 2014 was upgraded by 0.4 points to 3%.