The economy of the 19-nation bloc grew by 2.5% last year, according to Eurostat, the strongest growth since the 3% rate seen in 2007.

Eurostat also said that the eurozone grew by 0.6% in the final three months of 2017.

The European Central Bank has been carrying out a huge stimulus programme in an attempt to drive eurozone growth.

That programme has seen the bank slash its main interest rate to zero, and spend billions of euros a month on buying financial assets.

Growth in the eurozone has been picking up and it is now regarded as one of the strongest parts of the global economy.

In December, the ECB lifted its growth estimates for the eurozone, predicting growth of 2.3% in 2018, up from a previous estimate of 1.8%, while 2019's forecast was increased to 1.9% from 1.7%.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the prospects for the global economy were improving, as it raised its global growth forecast for this year and next to 3.9%.

The IMF said the recent pick-up had been pretty broad-based, particularly in Europe and Asia.

'Solid' growth

The Eurostat data also showed that the estimate of eurozone growth in the third quarter of last year was revised up to 0.7% from 0.6%.

"The eurozone economy picked up momentum in the second half of last year," said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Mr Vistesen described the 0.6% growth seen in the fourth quarter as "solid", adding it was probably driven by investment and net exports.