"During the fourth quarter of 2005, the Gross Domestic Product of the euro-zone has risen by 0.3% and that of the 25 EU member states by 0.4% compared with the previous quarter": Eurostat, the EU Statistics Office, has published today the economic figures for the last quarter of 2005, showing a slowdown in the 12 countries that have adopted the single currency, but also in the rest of the continent. In the previous quarter (July-September), "the GDP growth rate had been 0.7% in both areas". Overall, the GDP in the euro-zone stops at 1.8% per annum, while that of the 25 EU member states reaches 2%. Eurostat records the highest development rate in Latvia (2.7%), followed by Lithuania and Estonia. Conversely, Greece is the only country to record a negative figure (-0.2%). Family consumption, investments and foreign trade are actually still slow. Family consumption is at its lowest limit in Germany (+0.6%) and highest in Latvia (+8.4%). "Among the main trade partners of the EU say the Eurostat experts the GDP has grown by 0.4% in the United States in the fourth quarter 2005, against 1% in the previous quarter". 1.3% has been recorded in Japan at the end of the year, compared with the previous 0.2%.
