GDP went down in both euro area and the EU27 in the second quarter of 2012. Decrease was greater in the euro area, where the real GDP fell by 0.2 per cent. In the EU27, the real GDP decreased by 0.1%. In the first quarter of 2012, both rates were 0.0%.

Compared with the biggest world economies of the United States and Japan, the EU’s numbers were the worst. The United States’ GDP rate grew by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2012 and Japanese economy grew by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2012.

Within the EU, new member states reported better GDP growth rates than the old ones in general. Highest increases were reported in Latvia (4.3%), Slovakia (3.0%), Lithuania (2.8%), Estonia (2.5%) and Poland (2.5%). From old member states, Sweden grew by 2.2%, followed by Germany and Austria, both growing by 1.0%. The greatest decreases were reported in Greece (-6.2%), Portugal (-3.3%), Italy (-2.5%), Cyprus (-2.4%) and Slovenia (-2.2%).

According to the ECB, the euro area’s  projected annual real GDP growth should be in a range between -0.6% and -0.2% in 2012 and between -0.4% and 1.4% in 2013.

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