BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The eurozone economy grew 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, enough of an improvement on 0.1 percent in the previous quarter to suggest that modest recovery remains on track, official data showed on Friday.

Analysts had expected a gain of 0.2-0.3 percent.

In the wider European Union, the economy expanded 0.4 percent, after 0.3 percent in the third quarter, the Eurostat statistics agency said.

Compared with fourth quarter 2012, the then 17-nation eurozone economy expanded year-on-year by 0.5 percent, with the EU up 1.0 percent.

For full-year 2013, the eurozone shrank 0.4 percent, in line with Brussels’ own estimates, while the 28-member EU just held to positive territory with growth of 0.1 percent, Eurostat said.

Among the major economies, Germany showed a gain of 0.4 percent in the October-December period, better than analyst forecasts for 0.3 percent.

In contrast, the French economy grew 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter but this was short of official forecasts for 0.4 percent while Italy managed 0.1 percent.

Non-euro Britain expanded 0.7 percent, compared with 0.8 percent in the third quarter as it continued to lead among the top economies in the 28-member EU.

The largest gains were seen in the emerging Europe region of eastern Europe, where Poland grew 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter after 0.7 percent in the third, while Hungary expanded 0.6 percent after 0.8 percent and Romania jumped 1.7 percent, unchanged.

Poland, with the biggest central Europe economy, was one of the few countries to escape recession in the fallout from the 2008 global financial and then eurozone debt crises in a region which relies heavily on Germany.