Eurozone economic growth was stronger than expected in the third quarter, preliminary data showed yesterday, as France beat market expectations and Germany steered clear of a recession.

A preliminary estimate by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat showed that the economy of the 18 countries sharing the euro expanded 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the July-September period after a 0.1 per cent rise in the previous three months.Year-on-year, eurozone growth was 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, the same as in the second quarter, against market expectations of a 0.7 per cent rise.

Eurostat data showed Europe’s biggest economy Germany grew 0.1 per cent, in line with expectations but confounding some economies who had feared a second quarter of negative growth.

The eurozone’s second biggest France grew 0.3 per cent against market expectations of a 0.2 per cent gain. “The eurozone economy is still growing, albeit at snail’s pace, despite all the doom mongering by the IMF and others,” said Nick Kounis, the head of macro and financial markets research at ABN AMRO. “A slow recovery rather than a third recession looks to be on the cards. Having said that, this is not an outlook that policymakers could possibly be satisfied with,” he said.