The euro-zone economy grew more than expected in the last quarter of 2013 thanks to stronger expansion in its biggest countries France and Germany, the first estimate from the European Union's Statistics Office showed on Friday.
The economy of the 17 countries that shared the single currency in the last quarter rose 0.3% in the three months to December against the previous three months, after a 0.1% rise in the third quarter.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected a 0.2% quarterly rise. Compared with the same period of last year, euro-zone gross domestic product rose 0.5%, above market expectations of a 0.4% rise.
The first estimate does not provide a detailed breakdown into GDP components, which will only be available on March 5.
The 9.5-trillion-euro economy contracted 0.4% overall in 2013, Eurostat said. The European Commission expects it will grow 1.1% in 2014.
The gradually strengthening recovery still faces downside risks, mainly from turmoil in financial markets, disinflation and the slow pace of implementation of structural reforms.
Separately, Eurostat data showed the bloc's December foreign trade surplus grew to 13.9 billion euros from 9.8 billion euros in the same period last year, driven by a 4% year-on-year rise in exports, as imports rose only 1%.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected a 15.0-billion-euro surplus in December, following a revised 17.0-billion-euro surplus in November.
The euro-zone's full year external trade surplus more than doubled to 153.8 billion euros last year, from 79.7 billion euros in 2012, with exports rising 1% and imports falling 3%.
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