Germany narrowly avoided recession in the third quarter of the year and France exceeded low expectations, putting the euro-zone on course for anemic growth but no contraction.
Europe's largest economy eked out 0.1% growth from the previous three months following a revised 0.1% fall in the second quarter, the German statistics office said on Friday.
A strong rise in consumer spending and small boost from foreign trade prevented a worse result.
France expanded by 0.3% on the quarter, beating forecasts for 0.2% growth, marking its best performance in more than a year. But its second quarter was revised down to show a 0.1% fall in GDP.
Italy was not so lucky, subsiding by 0.1% and enduring the 13th quarter running without any growth.
It has been the euro-zone's most sluggish economy for more than a decade and is the only large country in the bloc actually in recession - defined as two or more consecutive quarters of falling output.
