MOSCOW, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia's economic development minister said Wednesday that the country's economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter this year, which means the recovery has lasted for three consecutive quarters.

Elvira Nabiullina said the gross domestic product (GDP) of Russia increased by 4.9 percent in March year-on-year, which was also a 0.2 percent growth over February.

The quarterly GDP growth of the third and fourth quarter of last year were 1.7 percent and 2 percent.

Smashed by the global economic crisis, Russia saw its worst recession in a decade with GDP shrinking 7.9 percent last year.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the country's economic recession has been over with signs of recovery, citing official forecast of the GDP growth at 3.1 percent in 2010, the preliminary results of industrial output growth of 5.8 percent and real disposable incomes growth of 7.4 percent in the first quarter.