Australia’s third-quarter economic growth missed analysts’ expectations, but still clocked its fastest expansion in about two years, driven by strong investment and consumer demand.
The country’s GDP expanded 2.1% year on year, marking its strongest expansion since the third quarter of 2023 when the economy expanded at the same rate, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. GDP missed economists’ forecast for a 2.2% growth.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Australia’s GDP grew 0.4% compared with 0.7% forecast in a Reuters poll.
Domestic final demand contributed 1.1 percentage points to growth while net trade was a major drag, denting the economy by 0.1 percentage point, as imports outpaced exports.
The economic growth reading came after Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock cautioned that the economy had likely already hit its potential growth limit.
