BRUSSESL, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Eurozone economy was officially out of its first-ever recession in the third quarter of this year, the European Union (EU) said Friday.

    According to the EU's statistics office Eurostat, estimates showed that the combined economy of the 16-nation bloc that shares the euro grew by 0.4 percent in the third quarter, after shrinking for the previous five quarters.

    Compared with the same period last year, the Eurozone economy decreased by 4.1 percent in the third quarter.

    Meanwhile, in the 27-nation EU, the economy grew 0.2 percent in the third quarter after decreasing 0.3 percent in the second.

    Compared with the same period of 2008, the combined EU economy contracted by 4.3 percent, following a drop of 4.9 percent in the previous three months.

    Hard hit by the financial crisis, the Eurozone economy started contraction in the second quarter of 2008 and plunged into recession in the following quarter, the first time since the single currency club came into being in 1999.

    Recession is technically defined as negative growth in two consecutive quarters.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis