Brussels, 02/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - In the third quarter of 2004, GDP rose by 0.3% in both the Euro zone and EU25. Eurostat estimates show a fall in the pace of growth compared to the previous quarterly during which the rise was 0.5% for the euro zone and 0.6% for the EU 25. Compared to the same period in 2003, figures are 1.8% and 2.1% respectively. With the rise in the euro, growth has been squeezed to 1.2% in the euro zone euro and 1.1% in the EU 25, whereas in the second quarter it stood at 3.1% in the two zones. In the USA, the rise in the level of economic activity was stronger than in the second quarter (+1% compared to +0.8%), but in Japan it was only 0.1% as opposed to 0.3%. For the fourth quarter of the year, as for the first quarter of 2005, European Commission forecasts establish growth within a band of 0.2% - 0.6%.