Luxembourg, 10/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - According to the last statistics from Eurostat, the EC statistical office, the GDP growth in volume terms in the Euro area (namely the 11 Member States taking part in the Euro) and in the EU 15 registered an increase of 2.3%, slightly down on the 2.7% increase recorded in 1998 in both areas. Among the components of internal demand, household final consumption expenditure slowed (+2.7% for the EU 15 and +2.5% for the Euro area against +3.0% for both in 1998). Investments continued, for their part, to grow solidly, both in the EU 15 (+4.9%) and the Euro area (+4.8%). The surplus on the trade balance, as a percentage of GDP, fell in both the EU 15 and the Euro area (respectively +0.9% and +1.7% in 1999 against +1.5% and +2.2% in 1998).
The Eurostat report also notes that: i) all the Member States in 1999 a registered GDP volume growth, ten of them situated above the 2.3% average, ii) though as slight slowdown, Ireland saw, for the sixth consecutive year, the highest GDP growth rate in all the EU with +8.3% (against +8.9% in 1998), followed by Luxembourg, with a strong progression (+7.5% against +5.0% in 1998) and then Sweden (+3.8% against +3.0% in 1998), iii) for the second consecutive year, Italy has seen the weakest growth (+1.4% against +1.5% in 1998), followed by German (+1.5% against +2.2% in 1998) and Denmark (+1.6% against +2.5% in 1998). As for the main EU partners, growth in the United States continued at a sustain rhythm (+4.2% against +4.3% in 1998) while Japan recorded a slight upturn (+0.2% against -2.5% in 1998).