Australia experiences first recession in nearly three decades

The economy of Australia has contracted with a first recession in nearly past 30 years due to the massive fallout inflicted by Coronavirus pandemic. The Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 7 % in the three month quarter April – June as compared with the previous three months.

Biggest fall since 1959

Australia, quite popularly known as ‘The Lucky Country’ is experiencing the biggest fall since 1959 after a drop of 0.3% in the first quarter. Australia was the only one from the major countries who were saved from the 2008 recession due to its continued demand of natural resources by China. When 2020 began, the economy of the country was first hit by dropping economic growth as a result of extreme bush fire season and the onset of Coronavirus contagion.

Australia is currently battling the worst economic growth in the past 61 years with severe contraction in household expenditure on goods and services. Around 1 million people have lost their jobs due to the virus outbreak. “This crisis is like no other,” said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg

“Today’s national accounts confirm the devastating impact on the Australian economy from COVID-19. Our record run of 28 consecutive years of economic growth has now officially come to an end.” he told the reporters.

Australian economy still performs better

Despite the economic fallout, Australia is performing comparatively better than other advanced economic countries who hare facing bigger downturns. The world’s biggest economy, United States shrank 9.5% for April – June quarter and of United Kingdom, it shrank by 20.4 %. France is having a drop by 13.8 % and 7.6 % in Japan.