However the debt crisis in parts of the currency bloc threatens to cloud the outlook for the region's economy.

The forecast quarter-on-quarter growth rate for the final three months of 2009 would be the same as the third quarter, when the euro zone climbed out of a steep recession.

However, a 0.4 percent expansion rate would reduce the year-on-year slump from 4.1 percent in the third quarter to 1.9 percent in the last three months of the year.

The release of the latest euro zone growth data comes amid signs of new economic divisions emerging across the currency bloc.

While indicators point to the region's biggest economies, Germany and France, edging along the recovery path, nations such as Greece, Spain and Portugal are battling to clean up their state finances in a bid to wind back ballooning deficits and spiraling debts.

This has also helped to spark concerns about Italy, with the euro zone's third biggest economy seen as facing a further erosion of its international competitiveness in the wake of last year's dramatic contraction in economic growth.

Concerns about the financial crisis that has engulfed Athens spreading to other parts of the euro zone has already undercut the euro's performance on foreign exchange markets.

Also overhanging the euro zone in the coming months is the threat that the region's swelling job queues could hit private consumption which in turn might slow the pace of economic growth this year.

Euro zone unemployment edged up to 10 percent in December for the first time since the single currency was launched more than a decade ago, official data released last month showed.

Indeed, apart from government moves to unwind the emergency fiscal plans launched to shield their economies from recession, analysts say employers could also lay off on staff in the face of what is forecast to be a muted economic recovery this year.

The International Monetary Fund said last month it expects the euro zone to grow by a moderate 1 percent in 2010. This was up from a previous forecast of just 0.3 percent.