The eurozone’s economy expanded by 0.6 per cent in the third quarter of the year, official data showed on Thursday, confirming an earlier estimate and highlighting the relatively sluggish performance of the UK.

Europe’s official data agency said that private consumption and investment had largely fuelled growth in the three months to the end of September.

Forecasters already now expect that 2017 will be the eurozone economy’s best year in a decade. That presents a sharp contrast to the UK, where the economy expanded by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter, putting the country on track for its worst annual growth performance in five years.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) last month said that it now sees the UK economy growing by just 1.5 per cent this year and 1.4 per cent next, down from a previous estimate of 2 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

“The EU looks on course to head into 2018 in a significantly stronger position than Britain as crucial trade negotiations, hopefully, begin,” said Jacob Deppe, head of trading at online trading platform Infinox.

By country, Romania led the pack across the European Union in the third quarter, with economic expansion of 2.6 per cent, followed by Malta at 1.9 per cent, Latvia at 1.5 per cent and Poland at 1.2 per cent.