Euro zone economic growth finished better than expected in 2006 on the back of a strong recovery in Italy and solid figures from Germany, a first estimate showed today.
European Union statistics office Eurostat said the economy in the euro zone expanded by 0.9 per cent in the October-December period compared with the previous quarter.
Eurostat said that over 2006 as a whole, the euro zone's economy expanded by 2.7 per cent, faster than the 2.6 per cent earlier forecast by the European Commission but slower than 3.4 per cent in the United States.
In 2005, euro zone growth was 1.4 per cent.
The figures came in above-market expectations of a 0.6 per cent quarterly increase and a 3.0 per cent annual rise, and marked a sharp acceleration from the 0.5 per cent quarterly increase in the third quarter.
The result is likely to cement expectations of more interest rate rises from the European Central Bank.
Separately, the executive European Commission confirmed its earlier forecast that the euro zone's economy would grow in a range of 0.4-0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2007 and 0.4-0.9 per cent in the second quarter.