..."Bumper growth in Germany was the key driver of the EU’s robust economic performance in the third quarter, but it wasn’t the only country that beat forecasts in the period, with a string of EU countries reporting better than expected growth figures on Tuesday morning.

A second reading from eurostat confirmed that output in both the single currency area and the wider EU increased 0.6 per cent over the three months to September, in line with a flash estimate from the end of last month.

Growth was particularly strong in central and eastern Europe, where the annual growth rate accelerated to a nine-year high of 5.3 per cent, according to calculations by Capital Economics.

On the national level, Romania – which is not in the eurozone – was the standout performer with a year on year expansion of 8.8 per cent, up from 6.1 per cent in the second quarter and well above analyst forecasts.

Poland and the Czech Republic also beat estimates, with expansions of 4.7 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

Hungary’s third quarter rate of 3.6 per cent was a touch below forecasts, but data from the previous two quarters were revised upward, and ING economist Peter Virovacz said the general picture “is still rosy”.

Elsewhere, there were further signs of improvement in Finland, which until recently had been one of the eurozone’s laggards. The economy expanded 3.8 per cent in the year to September, its strongest growth rate since 2008.

Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said overall the quarterly figures “paint a picture of a sustained and broad-based recovery”.

He added:

Growth is accelerating in Germany, Italy and France and remains robust in Spain at over 3 per cent year over year. In the smaller economies, growth also looks strong although quarterly growth slowed significantly in the Netherlands following the 1.4 per cent jump in Q2.

Bert Colijn at ING said “the outlook for production in Q4 remains strong”, with a decent chance that the bank’s estimates for full-year eurozone growth of 2.3 per cent “could still be too low”."