Latest figures show the Eurozone has exited recession with a surprise 0.3% growth in the second quarter of the year. This was led by Germany and France.

The Eurostat agency said the 18-month downturn which has cost millions of jobs and crushed debt-laden governments around the single currency area ended thanks in large part to better-than-expected gains of 0.7% in Germany and 0.5% in France.

Analysts had expected a 0.2% increase for the bloc.

This Eurostat graph compares GDP growth in the US

But compared with the same quarter last year, seasonally adjusted GDP fell by 0.7% in the Euro area and by 0.2% in the general EU.

This is after growth of 1.1% and -0.7% respectively in the previous quarter.

In comparison, GDP in the United States grew by 0.4% compared with the previous quarter. While GDP there rose by 1.4% compared with the same quarter of last year.

But the economies of Italy and Spain actually shrank by 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.

The Netherlands economy also contracted by 0.2%, but Portugal posted a strong return with 1.1% growth.

Although it is good news, the editor of the Sunday Business Post Cliff Taylor told Lunchtime here on Newstalk that the EU growth rate will need to be even stronger before Ireland will see any real benefit.