Figures released by the CBI on Wednesday showed that the gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic activity, reached 3,802.1 trillion rials or about $90 billion in the first quarter, up 6.2% compared to the same period last year.

The non-oil sector of the economy expanded by 5.2% in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year, the data showed.

The CBI uses 2016 as the base year for its calculation of GDP data.

In the first quarter, the oil and gas sector boasted the highest growth rate at 16.4%, followed by the services sector at 6.2%, industries and mining at 3.7%, and agriculture, forestry and fishing at 2.2%.

This indicates an improvement in the value-added growth of all economic sectors compared to the first quarter of last calendar year.

The economic growth in the first quarter of this year was a continuation of the upward trend seen over the past three years.

In the previous year, from the first to the fourth quarters ending on March 20, the economic growth rates stood at 1.9%, 3.9%, 4.9%, and 5.3%, respectively.