Australian GDP growth slows to 0.3 pct in Q1

CANBERRA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Australia's rate of economic growth fell to 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2026, according to official data released on Wednesday.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.3 percent in the three months to the end of March, down from 0.9 percent in the preceding fourth quarter of 2025.

On an annual basis, it said that GDP grew by 2.5 percent in the year to March, matching the figure for the 12 months to December 2025.

According to the ABS, household spending rose by 0.5 percent in the March quarter, but government final consumption expenditure fell by 0.2 percent in the same period, the lowest figure for any quarter since September 2022.

Responding to the data, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that Australia's economy is resilient at a time of "very substantial global economic volatility and instability."

"Our economy's got no shortage of challenges, but it's also got some very sturdy foundations, and you can see that in today's data," he told reporters in Canberra.

Mining production fell by 1.5 percent over the quarter, which the ABS attributed to weather disruptions, and exports fell by 1.1 percent, driven by falls in coal and mineral ore exports, while imports grew by 2.1 percent.

The ABS said that the net trade detracted 0.8 percentage points from GDP growth for the quarter.

In projections released in May, the Reserve Bank of Australia forecast that annual GDP growth would fall to 1.9 percent in the June quarter and to 1.3 percent in December. Enditem