Rising consumer spending helped drive the French economy

Growth in the quarter was helped by a strong increase in business investment and consumer spending.

The growth spurt is the latest evidence of the current revival trend in Europe's biggest economies.

Elsewhere, Germany's modest recovery continued, with unemployment dipping by 134,000 to 4.24 million in September.

French boost

Insee, the French national statistics office, revised its previous estimate for growth between April and June up to 1.2% from 1.1%. However, first-quarter growth was revised down to 0.4% from 0.5%.

Experts have questioned whether France's fast pace of growth can be sustained - highlighting a downward revision in exports as a signal of a potential slowdown.

Italy remains one of the countries lagging behind its European counterparts.

New official data showed Italy's trade deficit with non-EU countries soared to 1.93bn euros in August, from 373m at the same time last year, driven by a surge in Chinese imports.