Growth in the eurozone strengthened in the first quarter of 2016 but by slightly less than first estimated, the Eurostat statistics agency said on Friday.

The Eurostat statistics agency said growth in the 19-nation single currency bloc accelerated in January to March to 0.5 percent, less than the 0.6 percent reported on April 29.

This expansion was still stronger than the 0.3 percent posted in the two previous quarters in the eurozone and gave the bloc 1.5 percent growth year-on-year.

The EU bloc of 28 countries also grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter, Eurostat said.