GDP grew by 0.7% in the Eurozone1 (EA13) and by 0.8% in the EU271 during the third quarter of 2007, compared with the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union. In the second quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.3% in the Eurozone and +0.5% in the EU27.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP grew by 2.6% in the Eurozone and by 2.9% in the EU27 in the third quarter of 2007, after +2.5% and +2.8% respectively in the previous quarter.
During the third quarter of 2007, US GDP increased by 1.0% compared with the previous quarter, after +0.9% in the second quarter. In Japan, GDP grew by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2007, after -0.4% in the second quarter. Compared with the third quarter of 2006, GDP grew by 2.6% in the US and by 2.2% in Japan, after +1.9% and +1.5% respectively in the previous quarter.
- From 1 January 2007 the Eurozone (EA13) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.
From 1 January 2007 the European Union (EU27) consists of Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE) and the United Kingdom (UK).
Summary quality information
European quarterly national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). The flash estimate of 2007 Q3 GDP growth presented in this release is based on Member States’ data as available, directly covering 97% of EA13 GDP (89% of EU27 GDP).
Simulations and previously published flash estimates have shown the flash estimation procedure to be reliable. Over the last 27 quarters, the flash estimate of GDP growth on the previous quarter for the Eurozone (EA12) when compared to the following first regular release has led to an average revision of less than 0.01 percentage points. It correctly anticipated the acceleration or deceleration of growth 23 times. The value of the growth rate was correctly anticipated 23 times and differed by ±0.1 percentage points 4 times.
With this flash estimate, Eurozone and EU GDP figures for earlier quarters are not revised, so the growth rates till the second quarter 2007, remain unchanged. All figures presented in this release are subject to further revision with the two regular estimates of GDP for the third quarter 2007, scheduled for 30 November 2007 and 09 January 2008. First estimates for National Accounts employment in the third quarter 2007 are scheduled for 12 December 2007.
