Seasonally adjusted GDP was up 2.1% over the year before and 0.4% higher than in the previous quarter, a decline from 2.5% and 0.7%, respectively, in the previous quarter.

"If growth in the final quarter is at a similar level than in the third quarter, end-year GDP growth will be 2.6%," said Anže Podnar of the Statistics office's department of national accounts.

Private consumption rose, but investment spending declined and exports, long the main engine of growth, slowed down, according to the statisticians.

Household spending accelerated to 1.3% year-on-year on the back of a surge in spending on durable goods.

But Podnar was quick to point out that spending on non-durable goods also increased, mostly in goods and services categories associated with tourism such as food, drinks and tobacco.

Final government consumption also rose, to 0.9% from 0.4% in the previous quarter, making for a total increase in final consumption expenditure of 1.2%, up 0.3 points over the previous quarter.

Export growth slowed down to 4.5% from 6.1% in the previous quarter.

With exports slowing at a more moderate pace than imports, Slovenia posted a significant trade surplus, which contributed 2.3 percentage points to the headline growth figure.

Investments dropped by 2.6% over the year before as an 11.6% decrease in spending on buildings was offset by higher investments in machinery and other equipment.

The slowdown was expected given the spike of investment at the end of last year prompted by the final payments of EU funds under the EU's previous budgetary framework.

According to Podnar, the decline in such investments will also affect GDP in 2016.

The value added of the entire economy expanded by 2.7% year-on-year, up slightly from the previous quarter, on the back of a 6% improvement in manufacturing.

Higher value added in manufacturing added 1.2 points to the headline GDP growth, but a 7.5% decline in the construction sector shaved off 0.4 percentage points.