ACCRA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Ghana"s economy grew 6.6% in the third quarter of 2021, the statistics service said on Wednesday, marking the fastest growth in gross domestic product since the COVID-19 pandemic began. "That 6.6% growth rate that we recorded for the third quarter of 2021 is the closest we"ve got to the pre-2020 period, when COVID was just about to set in," said government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim at a news conference. "This growth rate that we recorded is edging us closer to the GDP growth rate that we recorded during the pre-COVID-19 era, keeping in mind that we did record a 9% growth rate in the first quarter of 2019," he added. Ghana"s economy grew by 0.4% in the full year of 2020. Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Toby Chopra