16/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - The GDPs of the euro zone and the EU25 rose by 0.6% during the third quarter of 2005 compared with the previous quarter, when they rose by 0.4% and 0.6% respectively. In annual terms, the euro zone has shown a rise of 1.6% and the EU25 1.8%. Finland has experienced greatest growth (+2.9%), followed by Estonia (+2.6%), Lithuania (+2.4%), Greece (+1.8%), Slovakia (+1.5%), Denmark (+1.04%) and Poland (+1.3%). In Portugal there was a drop of -0.9%. Household spending in the euro zone rose by 0.3% and by 0.4% in the EU25 (varying widely between -1.4% in Portugal and +3.3% in Lithuania), investment rose by 1.3% and 1.5% respectively (between -8.4% in Belgium and +5.8% in Lithuania), exports rose by 3.3% and 2.9% respectively (between -0.6% in Portugal and +8.1% in Slovakia) and imports rose by 2.8% in both zones (between -0.7% in Portugal and +10.8% in Greece). In the third quarter, monthly GDP rose by 1% in the United States and by 0.2% in Japan, and in annual terms by +3.6% and +2.8% respectively. The European Commission expects a rise in GDP of between 0.4% and 0.8% for the last quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006. A rise of between 0.4% and 0.9% is predicted for the second quarter of this year.