Despite the weaker figures, President Vladimir Putin has said Russia's national economy is healthy. File Photo by Forden/Shutterstock/UPI

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The Russian economy slowed significantly in 2019 and delivered its worst performance since the nation's economic crisis four years ago, figures showed Monday.

The figures by Rosstat said Russia's gross domestic product expanded by just 1.3 percent last year -- a steep drop from the 2.5 percent growth it recorded in 2018.


The economy did gain some momentum over the final six months of 2019, the statistics showed, beating projections of just 1 percent growth by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Experts say Russia's gas industry provided a boost, growing by more than 10 percent last year. Moscow also cut public spending, cracked down on banks to improve balance sheets and spent millions on Russian substitutes for sanctioned products.

Despite five years of U.S. and EU sanctions, over Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December his nation has weathered the punishment and adjusted.