Despite the subsequent rapid recovery of economic activity in the region, the surplus continued to grow, rising in the last three years from 2.4 to 3.7 per cent of GDP as a consequence of the upturn in world trade and the favourable competitive position. The differing net investment positions affect countries’ propensity to keep on accumulating dollars and, more generally, foreign exchange reserves. 4.
Italy  In the first nine months of 2004 GDP growth in Italy was 1.2 per cent on an annual basis, 0.7 percentage points less than in the rest of the euro area. The growth gap, which had been nearly closed in the course of the previous three years, thus widened again in concomitance with the less favourable performance of exports.