PARIS — The European economy grew slightly more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2014, official data showed on Friday, as Germany’s growth accelerated more than enough to offset stagnation in France.
The combined gross domestic product of the nations that share the euro grew 0.3 percent in the October-December period from the previous three months, Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, reported from Luxembourg. That was slightly better than the 0.2 percent economists had expected.
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The program, known as quantitative easing, is meant to bolster the economy of the 19-nation currency bloc by restoring credit and encouraging investment.
The eurozone makes up around 17 percent of the global economy, according to World Bank data, but its failure to recover from the 2008 financial crisis has made it the sick man of the world’s markets.
