Brussels - The European Union's economy contracted by a worse-than-expected 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, according to final Eurostat estimates out Wednesday.

The European statistical office had previously estimated a fall in the bloc's gross domestic product of 0.2 per cent.

GDP in the 16-member eurozone also contracted more than previously thought in the second quarter - by 0.2 per cent instead of 0.1 per cent.

Eurostat said the differences were due to the fact that its September 2 preliminary estimates had been based on a more limited set of data. Also, first estimates of some member states had also been revised.

Year-on-year, GDP was down 4.9 per cent in the 27-member EU and 4.8 per cent in the eurozone.

Eurostat's final figures confirmed that both Germany and France had moved out of recession by both posting quarterly growth rates of 0.3 per cent.

By contrast, other big economies like Britain, Italy and Spain remained in negative territory, while Poland was the only EU member state to post a year-on-year growth rate - 1.4 per cent - in the period from April to June. (dpa)