Russian output plummets further

Extraction of raw materials declined by 3.6% in January from a year earlier

Russia's industrial output plummeted 16% during January from a year earlier, with the sector hit hard by the economic downturn.

This was the biggest annual drop since October 1994 and followed a 10.3% fall in December.

It is even bigger than in September 1998, a month after the beginning of Russia's severe financial crisis.

Russian officials have already warned that growth in 2009 will be close to zero after a decade of economic boom.

The Russian economy has been hit by the fall in the price of oil, which ended 2008 below $50 a barrel, having hit record highs of $147 a barrel in July.

Manufacturing slumped 24.1% in January from a year earlier, while extraction of raw materials declined 3.6%.

Car output dropped 79.7% in January as consumers cut back on spending.