The gross domestic product (GDP) of the European Union increased 2.6% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2007, according to the European Union’s Statistical Office (Eurostat). In a quarterly comparison, this figure was up by 0.5 percentage points. Economic growth in the 13-strong Eurozone was 2.3% in the monitored period, up 0.4 percentage points compared with Q2.
By comparison, the US economy posted a 2.5% improvement year-on-year and 0.2 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.
Meanwhile, the Slovak economy strengthened by a record-breaking 14.1% year-on-year, the highest growth among all EU countries. The Q4 figure boosted 2007 growth over 10%, and was ascribed mainly to businesses stocking up on cigarettes ahead of a planned tax increase.
Compared to the third quarter of this year, the Slovak GDP was up 3.1 percentage points, which was also the greatest improvement among the 12 countries for which Eurostat had data available.
