The euro zone economy grew by more than previously estimated in the first quarter and at its fastest rate in a year, EU statistics agency Eurostat said today.
The figures came ahead of a European Central Bank meeting, which kept its easy money policy unchanged - as widely expected.
Eurostat said the 19-country euro zone expanded by 0.6% quarter-on-quarter and by 1.9% year-on-year. That compared with earlier estimates of 0.5% and 1.7% respectively.
On an annualised basis, the euro zone economy was expanding at a rate of 2.3% in the three months from January to March, far outstripping the 1.2% rate of the US.
Solid economy growth but subdued inflation has left the ECB in a quandary.
ECB President Mario Draghi is yet to be convinced that a recent rebound of inflation is durable because wage growth remains sluggish.
Eurostat said household consumption contributed 0.2 percentage points and gross fixed capital formation 0.3 points and government consumption 0.1 points to the first-quarter growth figure.
The contributions of external trade and inventories was neutral.
