Jakarta - Papua's economy contracted by 8.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, compared with the figure from the same period last year.

The economic downturn affected a wide range of sectors, including the processing industry, trade, hotels and restaurants, transportation, communication, mining and services.

The agricultural sector, along with the energy and clean water sectors, were among the few that recorded positive growth.

"The agricultural sector grew by 1.11 percent, and the energy and clean water sectors 0.004 percent," head of the Papuan office of the Central Statistics Agency, Djarot Soetanto, said in Jayapura on Saturday.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, however, the province's economy grew by 12.6 percent, Djarot added as quoted by Antara news agency.