The 16-country eurozone has officially joined the US and Japan out of recession, after figures on Friday showed its economy grew by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter from the previous three-month period.

However, the rise reported by the EU’s statistics office Eurostat was not as large as the 0.6 per cent most economists had been predicting, as growth in major economies fell short of forecasts. With a rebound in exports partially offset by weak household spending, Germany’s economy grew by 0.7 per cent and France’s by 0.3 per cent.

Still, the third quarter rise in eurozone output was the first in six quarters and brings to an end Europe’s sharpest recession since World War II. Though the eurozone’s banks were not at the epicenter of the financial crisis that triggered the global economic downturn, the region suffered as demand for its high-value products fell off a cliff.

The recession was particularly savage at the turn of the year. The 1.8 per cent quarterly decline recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008 was followed by an even bigger 2.5 per cent drop in the first quarter of 2009. In the second quarter this year, output fell a modest 0.2 per cent as Germany and France emerged from recession.

Although eurozone output grew on a quarterly basis, it was 4.1 per cent below year-ago levels in the third quarter.