Spain posts 5th consecutive quarterly GDP growth as economy shrugs off recession

Spain's economy grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, its fifth consecutive quarterly growth.

In provisional estimates released Wednesday, the National Statistics Institute said the economy grew by 1.6 percent over the past 12 months, up from the 1.3 percent year-on-year increase registered in the second quarter.

The July-September growth figure was slightly below the 0.6 percent quarterly rate posted in the previous three-month period.

Spain fell into the first of two severe recessions in the second half of 2008 after its real estate sector collapsed. It emerged from the second slump in the latter half of 2013.