The euro zone economy grew faster than predicted last quarter, displaying exceptional resilience to headwinds from expensive energy, even as surging borrowing costs and rapid inflation cloud the outlook.
The euro zone economy has beaten most estimates this year, expanding steadily on the back of robust investment and consumption, confounding expectations for a downturn as energy price rises sap incomes.
The economies of the 21 nations sharing the euro grew by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter, a slowdown from an exceptionally strong 0.6pc three months earlier, but far above expectations for 0.2pc in a Reuters poll of economists.
Compared with a year earlier, the bloc’s economy grew by 1.3pc, beating expectations for 1.1pc, as heavy spending on AI, defence and infrastructure boosted investment, robust foreign demand helped industry, and households kept on spending, reducing their already high savings rate.
Among the euro zone’s biggest economies, Germany expanded by 0.2pc on the quarter, Spain and the Netherlands by 0.6pc, while Italy was unchanged and the French economy contracted by 0.1pc.
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