Eurozone economy expands by 0.2%

Berlin - The eurozone economy expanded more-than-expected in the third quarter of 2014, boosted by growth among countries at the centre of the region's long-running debt crisis, data released Friday showed.

According to the European Union's statistics office Eurostat, the struggling 18-member currency bloc expanded quarter-on-quarter by 0.2% in the July through September period, after growing by 0.1% in the second quarter.

The gain in the eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP) followed further signs that its cash-strapped member states were on a recovery path after the region emerged last year from a protracted recession sparked by tough fiscal austerity aimed at cutting debt levels.

Spain's GDP grew by 0.5%, and France posted its fastest growth rate in more than year, expanding at a better-than-forecast 0.3% after its economy contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter.

Five years after it helped kick off the eurozone financial crisis, Greece posted 0.7% growth in GDP in the third quarter - up from 0.3% in the second quarter.

But the eurozone GDP data was weighed down by another downbeat performance by Italy. The currency bloc's third-largest economy shrank 0.1% in the third quarter, extending its record-length recession.

Portugal also dampened the bloc's economic growth with a 0.2% growth rate in the third quarter - about half what analysts had projected.

Friday's data showed feeble growth from Germany, the eurozone's powerhouse, with a quarter-on-quarter gain in GDP of only 0.1%. The meagre figure means that Germany narrowly avoided a recession after it contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter.

The Dutch economy also slowed significantly in the third quarter, growing by only 0.2% compared with 0.6% in the second quarter.

Year on year, the eurozone economy expanded by 0.8% in Q3 - the same as in the three months ended June, Eurostat said.

The 28-member European Union's GDP rose quarter-on-quarter by 0.3% in the third quarter, a small uptick compared with its second-quarter growth of 0.2%.

The EU expanded by 1.3% in July through September compared with the same period in 2013.