According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, Australia’s economic growth decreased to 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 0.3 percent in the preceding three months.
According to the ABS, the GDP grew by 1.5% during the course of the year that ended in December.
“Even weak growth is welcome growth in the circumstances,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The UK and Japan both finished the year in recession. Around a quarter of G20 nations have recorded a technical recession or narrowly avoided one.”
The primary forces for GDP growth in the last three months of 2023, according to the ABS, were investments from private companies and government expenditure.
Between the end of September and the end of December, Australia saw a 3.4% decline in imports and a 0.3% decline in exports.
During that time, household spending increased by 0.1 percent, but the household saving ratio—that is, the percentage of net savings relative to disposable income in the family—rose to 3.2 percent for the first time since 2021.
