Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.6% in both the euro area and the EU during the third quarter of 2017, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published on 7 December by Eurostat, the EU statistical office. In the second quarter of 2017, GDP grew by 0.7% in both areas. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 2.6% in both the euro area and the EU in the third quarter of 2017, after +2.4% in both zones in the second quarter of 2017. Among Member States for which data are available for the third quarter of 2017, Romania (+2.6%), Malta (+1.9%), Latvia (+1.5%) and Poland (+1.2%) recorded the highest growth compared with the previous quarter, while GDP decreased in Denmark (-0.6%) and remained almost stable in Lithuania (+0.1%). Household final consumption expenditure had a positive contribution to GDP growth in both the euro area and the EU (+0.2 and +0.3 percentage points, respectively) as did gross fixed capital formation (+0.2 pp in both zones). The contribution of the external balance to GDP growth was slightly positive for the euro area and neutral for the EU. The contribution of changes in inventories was positive for both zones.