The euro zone economy contracted by 0.1% in the three months to the end of September, new data from Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, has confirmed.
In the wider European Union, activity was flat in the quarter.
GDP had increased by 0.1% in both the euro area and the EU during the second quarter of 2023.
Countries including Germany, Denmark, Portugal and Austria all contributed to that fall, but Ireland had the biggest GDP contraction in the region, down 1.8%, during the three month period.
France and Spain saw modest GDP growth, while Poland's economy expanded by 1.4% in the third quarter.
Despite the slowing economy, employment in both the euro zone and the EU rose in the period, rising by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively today's figures also show.
