Australia’s GDP grew by just 0.8% in the year to September

ABC NEWS (Australia)

With the exception of the COVID pandemic the economy is growing at its slowest pace in decades. GDP data for the September quarter shows Australia would be in a recession if not for government spending and migration growth.

Transcript

00:00The economy is flatlining. At a household level, Australians have been going backwards

00:08for almost two years. Which won't shock many struggling to keep up.

00:13Groceries. That's very expensive with three boys. Four boys, yeah.

00:18Nicola needed a couple of pair of pants. We're shopping for needs, not for wants at the moment.

00:24Australia's economy grew below expectations at 0.3 per cent in the three months to September,

00:30and 0.8 per cent for the year. That's the weakest annual growth since the 1990s recession,

00:38outside of the pandemic. It was held up by government spending on energy rebates and

00:44investment in infrastructure and defence equipment.

00:48Household spending was flat as Australians banked the Stage 3 tax cuts.

00:53We acknowledge that that growth is weak, and we know why that's the case. It is weighed

00:59down very substantially by the interest rate rises which began before the election, combined

01:04with those cost of living pressures weighing on household budgets, and the global economic

01:09uncertainty as well.

01:12We have now been in a household recession for seven quarters. It was a record after

01:18six quarters, it's still a record.

01:21The growth in household savings is an indicator that Australians are feeling under financial

01:26pressure, and are worried about the future. These numbers will come as a surprise to the

01:31Reserve Bank, which economists say will come under more pressure to cut interest rates.

01:37For many, rate relief can't come soon enough.

01:39My husband has a great job, but it's still stressful. And we're doing it as a family

01:46unit now, we're all understanding the value of money.

01:49A festive season on a budget.

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