trong growth in Germany helped the eurozone economy grow faster than expected in the final three months of 2014, official figures showed Friday.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency, said economic output across the 18 eurozone countries was 0.3 percent higher in the fourth quarter than the previous three-month period.

That's marginally higher than the 0.2 percent increased anticipated in the markets and echoes other findings that the eurozone economy is picking up steam amid lower oil prices and a weaker euro.

Germany was the standout performer, growing by a quarterly rate of 0.7 percent. France lagged, expanding by only 0.1 percent while Italy was stagnant.

Spain also did particularly well, growing by 0.7 percent, but Greece's economy faltered — declining by 0.2 percent — following three straight quarters of growth.

The growth figures cap an encouraging week for the eurozone. As well as the increasingly positive economic backdrop, hopes have grown that a potentially damaging Greek exit from the euro can be avoided. Meanwhile, a cease-fire agreement in Ukraine has also eased one of the main uncertainties that have dogged the single currency zone over the past year.