According to official estimates, the pace of economic recovery has slowed in Europe's major economies. Germany, Europe's largest economy, has seen a sharp slowdown in the third quarter, with growth of 0.7 per cent compared with the record expansion of 2.3 per cent it reported in the previous three months. In France, GDP grew by 0.4 percent between July and September, compared with growth of 0.7 per cent in the previous quarter. The 16 eurozone members grew 0.4 percent on average, down from 1 percent growth before. Italy also saw its rate of recovery decline, to 0.2 per cent from 0.5 per cent in the second quarter. But in crisis-hit Greece, the economy contracted at a slower rate of 1.1 per cent , compared with 1.7 per cent.