Brussels, 07/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - According to further estimates published by Eurostat on Friday 7 January, euro area GDP increased by 0.3% in the third quarter, less than the predicted 0.4% rise. By comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP rose by 1.9%. EU27 GDP rose by 0.5% during the third quarter of 2010, compared with the previous quarter; compared with the same period of the previous year, the increase was 2.2%. The European Statistical Office reports that, in the third quarter of 2010, Sweden recorded the highest growth rate (2.1%) compared with the previous quarter, followed by Luxembourg (1.5%) and Poland (1.3%). By way of comparison, GDP increased by 0.6% in the US in the third quarter of 2010 (after 0.4% in the previous quarter), and by 1.1% in Japan (after 0.7%). Compared with the third quarter of 2009, GDP grew by 3.2% in the US (after 3.0% in the previous quarter) and by 5.0% in Japan (after 3.5%). (Com-O.L./transl.rt)