BRUSSELS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The eurozone emerged from its worst recession since World War II in the third quarter of last year, thanks to strong exports, according to official figures released Friday.

    The combined economy of the 16 European Union (EU) nations that use the euro grew by 0.4 percent in the third quarter of 2009, compared with the previous three months, EU statistics office Eurostat said in its final figures, confirming previous estimates.

    It ended the economic contraction in the previous five consecutive quarters, as well as the deepest zone's recession.

    Eurostat said economic growth in the third quarter was mainly due to strong exports, which increased by 3.1 percent over the previous quarter, but household final consumption and investment, the other two growth engines, had fallen by 0.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

    Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the eurozone economy declined by four percent in the third quarter of last year.

    In the 27-nation EU, the economy grew by 0.3 percent in the third quarter over the previous three months, but shrank by 4.3 percent over a year ago.

    Among EU members for which data were available, Lithuania recorded the highest growth rate of 6.1 percent quarter on quarter, followed by Luxembourg's 4.2 percent and Slovakia's 1.6 percent. Germany, the largest EU economy, grew by 0.7 percent.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis