Euro countries

The euro countries referred to in this article for the period 2004–2012 are the 17 countries which, together, constitute the euro zone or  EMU in 2012., i.e. Belgium, Germany, France, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Spain,  Greece, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia and Estonia. Countries which joined the euro after 2004, are not included as euro countries for all years, in order to avoid unreal changes (as a result of expansion the eurozone). In StatLine, the database of Statistics Netherlands, the composition of the eurozone in a particular year is indeed related to the number of countries which have accepted the euro as their currency in that particular year.