Belgium's economy expanded at a slightly faster-than-expected rate in the final three months of 2013, latest figures from the National Bank of Belgium showed Tuesday.

Gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent from the third quarter, when the economy expanded 0.3 percent. The flash estimate, released on January 29, was for 0.4 percent growth.

The economy grew for the third quarter in a row and the latest expansion was the strongest since the first quarter of 2011.

Industrial output rose 0.6 percent, while services production grew 0.5 percent. Construction output increased 0.7 percent.

Fourth quarter expansion was largely led by domestic demand. Household consumption grew 0.6 percent.

Business investment rose 0.9 percent and housing investment increased 0.3 percent. Public infrastructure investment grew 1.2 percent. Government spending was stable.

Meanwhile, exports and imports declined 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Employment grew 0.1 percent from the previous three months.

Year-on-year, GDP increased 1 percent in the fourth quarter, after rising 0.4 percent in the previous three months. The initial estimate for fourth quarter growth was 0.9 percent. The latest growth is the biggest gain in two years.

For the whole year 2013, the economy grew 0.2 percent, reversing a 0.1 percent contraction in 2012. The figure was unrevised from earlier estimate. The Belgian economy expanded 1.8 percent in 2011.

RTTNews