BRATISLAVA (AFP) -- Slovak industrial output rose 17.4 percent in May on a 12-month comparison after 14.9 percent in April, the Slovak Statistical Office announced.

Slovakia's booming auto industry fueled the increase, with production of transport equipment up 76 percent compared with a year earlier, the office added. During the first five months of the year industrial production rose 15.5 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, the office said. Slovakia hosts three major car producers, Volkswagen, Peugeot and South Korean Kia