Australia avoids recession

The Australian economy has dodged the global recession with data revealing today that the economy achieved positive growth in the first quarter of the year.

The ABS said gross domestic product increased by 0.4%, seasonally adjusted, in the first three months of 2009, defying expectations for a second consecutive quarterly contraction – the technical definition of a recession.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and RBA governor Glenn Stevens had even conceded Australia had fallen into recession, but today’s figures highlight the relative strength of the Australian economy in contrast to international peers.

In the year to March 2009, the Australian economy grew 0.4 per cent. The United States’ economy contracted by 2.5 per cent while Japan’s economy has shrunk by just under 10 per cent.