STAT/06/147
14 November 2006
Flash estimates for the third quarter of 2006 Euro area GDP up by 0.5% and EU25 GDP up by 0.6% +2.6% and +2.8% respectively compared to the third quarter of 2005
GDP grew by 0.5% in the euro area1 and by 0.6% in the EU25 during the third quarter of 2006, compared to the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the second quarter of 2006, growth rates were +0.9% in both the euro area and the EU25.
Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP grew by 2.6% in the euro area and by 2.8% in the EU25 in the third quarter of 2006, after +2.7% and +2.9% respectively in the previous quarter.
During the third quarter of 2006, US GDP increased by 0.4% compared to the previous quarter, after +0.6% in the second quarter. Compared to the third quarter of 2005, GDP grew by 2.9% in the US, after +3.5% in the previous quarter.
Euro area: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. Summary quality information:
European quarterly national accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). The flash estimate of 2006 Q3 GDP growth presented in this release is based on Member States’ data as available, directly covering 96% of euro area GDP (88% of EU25 GDP). For more details of the flash methodology please refer to News Release 55/2003 of 15 May 2003.
Simulations and previously published flash estimates have shown the flash estimation procedure to be reliable. Over the last 23 quarters, the flash estimate of GDP growth on the previous quarter for the euro area 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 19 times. The value of the growth rate was correctly anticipated 19 times and differed by ±0.1 percentage points 4 times.
With this flash estimate, euro area and EU25 GDP figures for earlier quarters are not revised, so the growth rates till the second quarter 2006, published in News Release 135/2006 of 11 October 2006, remain unchanged. All figures presented in this release are subject to further revision with the two regular estimates of GDP for the third quarter 2006, scheduled for 30 November 2006 and 11 January 2007.
Issued by: Eurostat Press Office Tim ALLEN BECH Building L-2920 LUXEMBOURG Tel: +352-4301-33 444 Fax: +352-4301-35 349 eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu For further information on data: Ingo KUHNERT Luis BIEDMA Tel: +352-4301-35 234 +352-4301-34 728 Fax: +352-4301-33 879 estat-gdp-query@ec.europa.euEurostat news releases on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat Growth rates of GDP in volume
(based on seasonally adjusted* data)
Percentage change compared to the previous quarter Percentage change compared to the same quarter of the previous year 2005 2006 2005 2006 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Euro area 0.4 0.8 0.9 0.5 1.8 2.2 2.7 2.6 EU25 0.5 0.8 0.9 0.6 2.0 2.4 2.9 2.8 Member States Belgium 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.6 1.7 2.8 3.1 3.1 Czech Republic 2.0 1.5 1.2 : 6.9 6.9 6.5 : Denmark 0.3 0.9 1.6 : 3.2 3.5 3.6 : Germany 0.3 0.8 1.1 0.6 1.7 1.9 2.7 2.8 Estonia 1.0 3.4 2.8 : 11.6 11.6 11.8 : Greece -0.2 2.8 -0.4 2.1 3.7 4.1 4.1 4.3 Spain 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.8 France 0.2 0.5 1.2 0.0 1.0 1.4 2.6 : Ireland 2.1 1.2 0.9 : 6.5 5.7 4.9 : Italy 0.0 0.8 0.6 0.3 0.5 1.7 1.7 1.7 Cyprus 0.9 0.8 1.0 : 3.6 3.4 3.8 : Latvia** 2.7 2.7 2.6 : 10.6 13.1 11.1 : Lithuania 1.8 1.5 2.3 1.3 8.2 8.1 8.5 7.1 Luxembourg** : : : : 6.2 6.6 5.4 : Hungary 1.0 1.0 0.9 : 4.2 4.3 4.0 : Malta 0.3 -2.0 2.6 : 2.1 -1.8 5.5 : Netherlands** 0.6 0.3 1.3 0.6 1.9 2.9 2.8 2.6 Austria 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.9 2.9 3.1 3.3 3.3 Poland 1.3 1.2 1.0 : 4.5 4.7 5.2 : Portugal 0.5 0.3 0.9 : 1.0 1.1 0.9 : Slovenia 1.0 1.0 2.8 : 4.8 4.8 5.6 : Slovakia** 1.8 1.5 1.6 : 7.5 6.7 6.7 : Finland 1.0 2.1 1.9 : 3.4 4.7 6.6 : Sweden 0.9 1.4 1.3 : 3.2 4.2 4.8 : United Kingdom 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 1.9 2.3 2.6 2.8 Acceding Countries Bulgaria** : : : : 5.5 5.6 6.6 : Romania** : : : : 4.3 6.9 7.8 : EFTA countries Iceland -1.8 0.7 2.0 : 4.2 5.0 2.6 : Norway 0.1 0.6 0.5 : 2.4 2.7 2.1 : Switzerland 0.7 0.8 0.7 : 2.8 3.3 3.1 : Main economic partners United States 0.4 1.4 0.6 0.4 3.1 3.7 3.5 2.9 Japan 1.0 0.8 0.2 : 4.0 3.4 2.5 : :Data not available
*The seasonal adjustment includes a working-day correction for the following Member States: Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
**Percentage change compared to the same quarter of the previous year calculated from non-seasonally adjusted data.
