The economy of the euro-zone is slowing down even more, while the situation across the 27 EU member states has not changed. This has been confirmed by Eurostat, which records 0.2% in the GDP for the second quarter of this year, compared with the previous quarter (when it was 0.7%). Overall growth in the Gross Domestic Product per annum stops at 1.4% in the 15 states that use the single currency, and at 1.7% in the 27 EU member states. Between April and June 2008, the countries that have grown, albeit moderately, are Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, while several countries show negative figures: they include Germany, France, Italy and Ireland. To break down the GDP, household consumption, productive investments and exports are decreasing. As to the main trade partners, the GDP per annum grew in the United States by 2.1%, while Japan stopped at +0.8%.
