(Reuters) - Ukraine's economy grew by 5.3% in 2023 after contracting by almost a third in the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion, the statistics service said on Thursday.
The GDP figure was slightly higher than the figure of 5% given by Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko in January.
The statistics service has not been publishing full data during the war. Thursday was the first time they had given a figure for annual gross domestic product since the invasion.
It gave no details on the drivers of the growth in its one-line statement.
Ukrainian officials say GDP plunged 28.8% in 2022 and hope it will grow by 4.6% this year.
The economy is highly dependent on financial assistance from the West. Vital assistance from the United States has been stuck in Congress for months due to Republican opposition.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said in televised comments that he was optimistic that the U.S. aid package would be passed in April.
"There are all the grounds for this ... We are quite optimistic although there could be various unexpected things," he added.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams)
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