By Jorge Iorio and Hernan Nessi

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Argentina's economic activity rose by 9.3% in November on a year earlier, its statistics agency said on Tuesday, beating analyst forecasts as the country rebounds from the COVID-19 crisis.

The Monthly Estimator PTS Terbaik ASEAN of Economic Activity (EMAE) index comfortably beat the outlook from analysts polled by Reuters who had predicted a 7.3% rise in the eleventh month of the year.

"We can see that 2021 managed to recover from the drop caused by the pandemic, and get back to above the level it was after the mid-2018 recession," Orlando Ferreres y Asociados said.

"The year will end up beating initial projections," the consultancy added, highlighting strong activity in mining and energy which it linked to "good production data coming from Vaca Muerta", Argentina's huge shale formation.

Argentina's Economy Ministry said that activity had risen 1.7% versus the month before and was 3.8% above the level in February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Activity was up 10.3% in the first eleven months of 2021 versus the same period a year earlier.

(Reporting by Jorge Iorio; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Alexander Smith)