The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that GDP growth for OECD members jumped to 0.6% in the third quarter, but this was mostly due to a strong rebound in Japan.

The OECD says that provisional figures show that GDP rose by 0.6% in the third quarter, up from 0.3% in the previous quarter. The key reason for the increase in the growth rate was the strong growth in Japan, which saw GDP rise 1.5%. Japan’s strong growth is partly a technical rebound, as it was recovering from three consecutive quarters of contraction after the earthquake and tsunami hit back in March.

Elsewhere, growth in the Euro area remained at 0.2%, despite the higher growth in Germany (0.5%), the United Kingdom (0.5%) and France (0.4%). And, GDP growth in the United States also picked up slightly at 0.6%. Data for Canada is not available.

Relative to a year earlier, GDP increased by 1.8% in the third quarter in the OECD area, the same as in the previous quarter. Among the seven largest economies, Germany recorded the highest year-on-year growth rate (2.6%) and Japan the lowest (minus 0.2%).