London, January 10

Moribund. Decrepit. Sclerotic. Popular words to describe the economy shared by the 19 countries of the eurozone — but perhaps no longer apt.

Very slowly — and primarily because of massive stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) — the eurozone is showing signs of recovery. It is a dawn that policymakers are struggling to nurture into broad daylight.

It also may not be felt equally across the board, viz Spain and Greece’s unemployed versus Germany’s busy builders.

But putting aside for the moment that the eurozone’s nascent recovery is happening just as China is wobbling and financial markets are unhinged, the numbers look generally positive.

Economic growth was running at an annual rate of 1.6 per cent in the third quarter. While this may not seem robust, it is roughly twice the average annual growth rate between 2003 and 2014 (itself dragged down by the sharp contraction of 2009), and the equal highest rate since 2010.

So, for the eurozone, reasonably good. ECB forecasters and economists polled by Reuters expect it to grow at a slightly faster pace this year at around 1.7 per cent.