PARIS — It may not be at escape velocity yet, but the European economy is definitely picking up steam, an official forecast showed on Tuesday, as low oil prices, favorable foreign-exchange rates and central bank stimulus added momentum to a modest recovery.

The European Commission said it was revising upward its forecast for eurozone economic growth this year to 1.5 percent, from 1.3 percent, accelerating from the 0.9 percent growth posted last year. For 2016, the commission predicted that the eurozone economy, composed of the 19 member nations that share the euro, would grow by 1.9 percent.

“Eurozone G.D.P. is likely to beat both the U.S. and the U.K. in the first quarter, the first time since 2011,” Christian Schulz, an economist with Berenberg Bank in London, said before the commission’s new forecasts were announced. “It shows that Europe is becoming normal again.”

He predicted that the eurozone would show first-quarter expansion of 1.6 percent. The United States’ economy expanded a meager 0.2 percent at an annualized rate in the first three months of the year, while Britain’s grew 1.2 percent. But for the full year, Mr. Schulz said, it was probable that the American economy would still grow faster.