The eurozone economy grew by 0.8% in the first quarter of this year, up from 0.3% in the last three months of last year.

Germany provided the power for the expansion, posting growth figures of 1.5% for the first quarter while France’s growth was larger than many analysts had expected with gross domestic product (GDP) increasing by 1%.

The figures, released today by Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistical agency, showed that Portugal fell into recession with a contraction of 0.7%, following a decrease of 0.6% in the last three months of 2010.

Greece provided surprisingly positive figures despite its government’s difficulty in meeting fiscal targets. Its economy grew by 0.8%.

The figures indicate that growth in the eurozone was twice as fast as in the US in the first three months of this year.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, presented the European Commission’s spring economic forecast today, which suggested that economic recovery was maintaining its momentum.

He said: “The main message in our forecast is that the economic recovery in Europe is solid and continues, despite recent external turbulence and tensions in the sovereign debt market.

“Public deficits are clearly declining. It is now essential to strengthen these trends of growth and consolidation and also ensure that they translate into more and better jobs.

“This calls for continued fiscal consolidation and determined implementation of structural reforms that help job creation and improve the competitiveness of our economies.”

GDP in the eurozone and the EU as a whole is projected to grow by around 1.75% this year and by close to 2% in 2012.

The report showed that consumer price inflation has sharply increased since the autumn, as the result of a surge in commodity prices and fears of disruptions to oil supply caused by political instability in the Middle East and North Africa.

Headline inflation is projected to average almost 2.5% in the eurozone and 3% in all 27 member states this year, before easing to about 1.75% and 2% respectively in 2012, according to the forecast.

Unemployment is expected to decline slightly by about half a percentage point in both the eurozone and the whole EU to 9.75% in the eurozone and just over 9% in all 27 countries by 2012.

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