(Bloomberg) -- Angola’s economy contracted for the first time since the second quarter of 2021, after oil extraction and refining saw large declines.

Gross domestic product in the three months through March fell 1.1% from the previous quarter, according to a report published by the Angolan Statistics Office. The economy expanded 0.3% from a year earlier.

Oil exploration and refining, which is the largest sector of the economy, shrank by 15.4% on the quarter, the largest collapse since the fourth quarter of 2019. Diamond output and transport storage fell 24.6% and 19.5%, respectively.

Last month, Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa, said in a Bloomberg TV interview that he was confident the economy would grow this year. “We’re still confident on 3% growth this year but let’s see during the next months how oil production will perform.”   

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