Australia GDP Growth Accelerates In Q2

(RTTNews) - The Australian economy expanded at a faster pace in the second quarter after severe weather events damped activity in the preceding quarter, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday.

Gross domestic product growth doubled to 0.6 percent in the June quarter from 0.3 percent in the March period. The rate also exceeded economists' forecast of 0.5 percent.

On a yearly basis, GDP growth improved to 1.8 percent, the strongest since September 2023, from 1.4 percent in the prior quarter.

However, GDP growth of 1.3 percent over the 2024-25 was the weakest annual growth since the early 1990s, excluding the COVID-19 impacted 2019-20 year.

Data showed that domestic final demand was the main driver of growth led by household and government spending in the June quarter. Meanwhile, public investment was the largest detractor from growth.

Net trade contributed to GDP growth, led by exports of mining commodities. Driven by end of financial year sales and new product releases, discretionary spending on goods increased notably. As a result, household spending grew 0.9 percent sequentially after a 0.4 percent rise.

Growth in government spending improved to 1.0 percent from 0.3 percent in the prior quarter. National non-defense expenditure was the biggest contributor.

Public investment fell 3.9 percent from a quarter ago. Excluding the Covid period, this was the largest fall since September 2017.

Net trade also contributed to growth in the June quarter, adding 0.1 percentage points to GDP.

The ABS said household saving to income ratio fell to 4.2 percent in the June quarter from 5.2 percent in the March quarter.