Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.6 percent in 2008, the lowest figure since 2002, the Economic Development Ministry said on Monday.

The economy kept growing in the first half of last year along with the soaring energy price, but plummeted in the later months due to the global financial crisis and the dropping price of oil, a main export of the oil and gas-rich state.

Russia's economic growth slowed down to two percent in the fourth quarter, a big drop compared with the 9.5-percent growth in the same quarter of 2007, when the annual growth was 8.1 percent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that the Russian economy will contract 0.7 percent in 2009 but grow 1.3 percent in 2010. 　

Source: Xinhua