Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.6% in both the euro area and the EU during the first quarter of 2017, compared with the previous quarter, according to an estimate published on 8 June by Eurostat, the EU statistical office. In the fourth quarter of 2016, GDP grew by 0.5% and 0.6% respectively. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 1.9% in the euro area and by 2.1% in the EU, after +1.8% and +2.0% respectively in the previous quarter. Among Member States for which data are available for the first quarter of 2017, Romania (+1.7%), Latvia (+1.6%), Slovenia (+1.5%) and Lithuania (+1.4%) recorded the highest growth compared with the previous quarter, while the United Kingdom (+0.2%) recorded the lowest growth. Household final consumption expenditure contributed positively to GDP growth in both the euro area and the EU (both +0.2 percentage points) as did gross fixed capital formation (+0.3 pp in both zones). The contribution of the external balance to GDP growth was neutral for the euro area and negative for the EU. The contribution of changes in inventories was neutral for the euro area and positive for the EU.