Australia emerges from recession with 3.3% GDP growth
Sydney, Dec. 2 (BNA): The Australian economy grew by 3.3 percent in the September quarter, signaling that the country is in a partial recovery from its pandemic-driven recession.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday announced the return to gross domestic product (GDP) growth, following the record 7 percent decline in the three months through June 2020, according to Deutsch Press agency (dpa).
The return to growth follows six months of economic contraction, which plunged the country into its first recession in 30 years.
Annual growth, however, fell 3.8 percent through the year to September quarter.
"We have now turned the corner and a recovery is underway," Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe told reporters in Canberra ahead of the figures' release.
The ABS has attributed the positive figures to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions across most of the country in the three months to the end of September.
Household consumption grew almost 8 percent after a 12.5 percent decline last quarter.
Spending on services also jumped by 9.8 percent, as Australians returned to cafes, restaurants and hotels.
Lowe said while these figures are promising, the reality is that the "recovery will be uneven and it will be bumpy and it will be drawn out."
He also warned that the country is "likely to experience a run of years of relatively high unemployment."
The RBA predicts that even with "the overall economy now growing solidly," the economy will not return to its pre-Covid-19 levels until the end of 2021.
Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has recorded just over 27,900 coronavirus cases.
