Brussels, 22/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - According to a Eurostat flash published on 14 August, GDP in the second half of 2006 in the Euro zone and EU25 increased by 0.9% compared to the first half of the year. Growth stood at 0.6% in the Euro zone and 0.7% in the EU25 during this period. Compared to the second half of 2005, GDP in the Euro zone increased in the second half of 2006 by 2.4% and that in the EU25 by 2.6% (in the first half of this year, annual growth in GDP was 2 and 2.2% respectively. In annual terms growth was particularly strong in Lithuania (8.6%) but only 1.5% in Italy. The press release explains that in the second half of 2006, GDP increased in the USA by 0.6% compared to the previous quarter and by 3.5% in annual terms (in the first quarter of 2006, these increases were of 1.4% and 3.7%), whereas in Japan increase in GDP was by 0.2% and 2.2% respectively (0.7% and 3.4% in the previous quarter).