The European economy entered 2007 on a solid footing with data released Thursday showing growth coming in at a higher-than-previously estimated 3.5 per cent during the fourth quarter of last year, REPORTED DPA. Released by the EU's statistics office, the year-on-year quarterly growth figure for the 27-member European Union compared to a previous estimate issued five weeks ago of 3.4 per cent with the European economy consequently outpacing both the US and Japan. Year-on-year growth in the 13-member eurozone stood at 3.3 per cent during the final quarter of 2006. The final-quarter growth data produced an overall expansion annual rate for the EU last year of 2.9 per cent, underpinned by the fast- paced economies in the Brussels-based bloc's new member states. In particular, Latvia led the way posting a 2.5 per cent quarter- on-quarter growth rate in the last three months of 2006. At the same time, Slovakia grew by 2.2 per cent, Malta by 2.1 per cent and Estonia by 2.0 per cent. While the US reported a fourth-quarter year-on-year growth of 3.1 per cent, Japan's economy grew by 2.5 per cent. Quarter on quarter, growth was 0.9 per cent in both the eurozone and the broader-based EU. The economy built around Europe's 13-member common currency grew by 2.7 per cent in 2006, which was almost double the expansion rate for 2005. The release of the latest EU's statistics office comes in wake of moves by economists in Germany to revise up their growth forecasts for Europe's biggest economy. Instead of 1.8 per cent, the giant German insurer Allianz AG and its banking offshoot, Dresdner Bank said Thursday they now expect the German economy to grow by 2.0 per cent with the nation largely weathering the forecast slowdown in the US economy this year and the impact of the January hike in value-added tax. "The German economy is now standing on both legs" said Allianz- Dresdner Bank group economist Michael Heise with the group expecting a pickup in private consumption to help complement the solid performance by the nation's export machine. At the same time, a leading German economic institute, the Hamburg-based World Economic Institute (HWWI) said it sees growth in Germany coming in at 2.3 per cent this year und 2.4 per cent in 2008.
