BRATISLAVA (AFP) -- Slovak economic growth slowed to 9.5 percent in the last quarter of 2006 on a 12-month basis, preliminary figures from the Slovak Statistics Office showed.

In the third quarter, growth had reached a record of 9.8 percent, the highest ever by the small Central European country created in 1993 from the split of former Czechoslovkia.

Manufacturing, trade and financial services together with strong domestic and foreign demand were the main factors driving growth in the latest quarter, the office said.