As compared to the third quarter of 2007 GDP increased by just 0.4% and by 0.5% in the Eurozone EZ13 and the EU27 respectively in the fourth quarter of 2007. These are estimates by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. In the third quarter 2007 the respective growth rates had been +0.7% and +0.8%.
In comparison to the fourth quarter of 2006 GDP increased by 2.2% and 2.6% in the Eurozone and the EU27 respectively in the fourth quarter of 2007.
The reasons fort this loss of momentum are various. Private consumption has been stagnating and in the Eurozone it even fell by 0.1%. In the EU27 as a whole, private consumption increased slightly by 0.1%. This increase, however, is very small in comparison with the growth rates of the third quarter 2007 (+0.5% and +0.6%).
More positive was the development in the field of investment which grew by 0.8% in the Eurozone and by 0.7% in the EU27. These growth rates, however, are significantly below those of the previous quarter (+1.2% and +1.4%). The same trend applies to exports: they increased by 0.5% in the Eurozone and by 0.6% in the EU27 which is much less than in the previous quarter (+2.1% and +2.0%). The same is true for imports which decreased by 0.4% in the Eurozone and by 0.2% in the EU27 after +2.5% and +2.9% in the third quarter.
The situation in the USA is even less satisfactory. There GDP grew by 0.2% in the forth quarter of 2007 after +1.2% in the third quarter. In Japan the economy is developing much more dynamically. Thus, GDP grew by 0.9% in the fourth quarter after a growth of just +0.3% in the previous quarter.
The annual GDP growth rate for 2007 was 2.6% in the Eurozone and 2.9% in the EU27. In the USA it grew by 2.2% and by 2.1% in Japan. 
Explanations:
- EZ13: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.
- EZ15: EZ13 enlarged on January 1st by Cyprus and Malta
- EU27: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Great Britain.