Luxembourg, 11/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - According to Eurostat, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in both the Euro-zone and European Union as a whole, rose by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively in the third quarter of 2001 compared to 0.1% in the two zones in the same period last year. In the third quarter of 2001 GDP rose by 1.4% in both the Euro-zone and E15 zone.
In the third quarter of 2002, household final consumption expenditure grew by 0.2% in the Euro-zone and 0.4% in the E15, after rates of +0.5% and +0.6%, respectively, in the previous quarter. Investments stagnated in the Euro-zone (0.0%) and declined by 0.5% in the E15, following a fall of 0.8% and 0.3% in the second quarter. Exports continued to fall: -0.7% in the Euro-zone and -1% in the E15 after falls of -0.6% and -0.8% in the second quarter. Imports recorded a strong decrease both in the Euro-zone (-1.4% after -0.1% compared to the previous quarter) and E15 (-2.1% after -0.4% in the second quarter). Total Gross Value Added (GVA) grew by 0.2% in the Euro-zone and by 0.3% in the E15, after having stagnated in the Euro-zone (0%) and having grown slightly in the E15 +0.1%. The highest growth rate was recorded in agriculture (+0.9% in both zones); followed by financial services and business activities (+0.6% in both zones). Construction stagnated in the Euro-zone (0.0%) and grew by 0.3% in the E15. Out of all economic sectors, only industry presented a negative growth rate, -0.4% in both zones. Amongst Member States the highest GDP rates during the third quarter of 2001 were registered in Finland (+1.2%) and Denmark, France and the United Kingdom (+0.5%). The lowest rates were in the Netherlands (-0.4%) and Germany and Austria (-0.1%). The US and Japanese economies both recorded falls in GDP of 0.3% and 0.5% respectively.