BRUSSELS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The eurozone gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter (Q2) was revised up as Germany and the Netherlands posted stronger-than-expected growth for the period.

The Q2 GDP growth was revised upward to 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter from the previous estimate of 0.3 percent two weeks ago, according to data released on Tuesday by Eurostat, the statistics agency of the European Union (EU).

Growth in France was held back by strikes in the second quarter, while data released earlier this morning showed that growth accelerated in Germany at 0.5 percent, the Netherlands at 0.7 percent and Portugal at 0.5 percent.

"Overall, we think that growth will slow only gradually over the next few years. We forecast GDP to rise by 2.2 percent this year, 2.0 percent in 2019 and 1.7 percent in 2020," said Jack Allen, a senior European economist with the economic research company Capital Economics.