Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, exited the COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession it fell into in the third quarter of last year.

“Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.11%(year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report published on Thursday.

Nigeria officially fell into a recession in the third quarter of 2020 after output fell for two consecutive quarters. The government blamed the recession on the impact of the COVID-19, which led to business contraction as virtually all economic activities were shut down.

“Though weak, the positive growth reflects the gradual return of economic activities following the easing of restricted movements and limited local and international commercial activities in the preceding quarters,” NBS said.

With the growth rate achieved in the fourth quarter of 2020, NBS said the annual growth of real GDP was estimated at –1.92%.