Even with this year’s marked contraction of some central and eastern European countries’ economies, their accession to the EU boosted its overall economic growth, with the European Commission estimating that GDP in the new member states increased by extra 1.75 percentage points in the period 2004-2009. For the pre-Big Bang EU-15, enlargement significantly contributed to their growth through investment opportunities and increased foreign demand: 7.5% of the older member states’ exports went to the newcomers in 2007, up from 4.7% in 1999.