Eurostat announces Euro area1 GDP grew by 0.6 percent and EU25 GDP by 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2006 according to revised estimates from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the fourth quarter of 2005, growth rates were +0.3 percent in the euro area and +0.4 percent in the EU25.
In comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP grew in the first quarter of 2006 by 2.0 percent in the euro area and by 2.2 percent in the EU25, after +1.7 percent and +1.9 percent respectively in the previous quarter.
In the first quarter of 2006 and among the Member States for which data are available, Greece and Latvia (+2.8 percent each) recorded the highest growth rate, followed by the Czech Republic and Estonia (+2.0 percent each). A decrease was recorded only in Malta (-3.5 percent).
Private consumption, investments and external trade accelerating: In the first quarter of 2006, household2 final consumption expenditure grew by 0.6 percent both in the euro area and in the EU25 (after +0.2 percent and +0.3 percent, respectively, in the previous quarter). Investment grew by 0.9 percent in the euro area and by 1.1 percent in the EU25 (after +0.1 percent and +0.4 percent).
Exports rose by 3.8 percent in the euro area and by 3.9 percent in the EU25 (after +0.7 percent and +1.3 percent). Imports increased by 2.9 percent in the euro area and by 3.3 percent in the EU25 (after +1.3 percent and +1.6 percent).
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