The Canadian economy posted its worst showing on record in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took over the country last March, closing down businesses and putting millions out of work, some permanently.

Statistics Canada said on Tuesday that real gross domestic product shrank 5.4 per cent in 2020, the steepest annual decline since comparable data was first recorded in 1961.

The drop for the year was due to the shutdown of large swaths of the economy in March and April, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that crushed the economy.

One positive though is since that time, economic activity has and steadily grown, albeit at a slow pace.

Stats Canada also said the economy grew at an annualized rate of 9.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, down from an annualized growth rate of 40.6 per cent in the third quarter.

That was higher than expected, with financial data firm Refinitiv’s average economist estimate at 7.5 per cent.