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PANAMA CITY, June 24 (Reuters) - Panama's economic activity fell 2.65 percent in April compared with the same month a year earlier, the government said on Wednesday.

The negative figure was Panama's first since 2003, as Panama's economy shows signs of rapid cooling after five years of averaging above 8 percent GDP growth.

Panama's economy grew only 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with an annual rate of 9.2 percent for 2008.

The global recession has hit trade through the Panama Canal, port activity and commerce in the country's large free trade zone.

Construction, one of the motors of recent growth, is also beginning to slow, and some economists are revising downward a consensus GDP growth estimate for 2009 of 3 percent. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Diane Craft)