Australia: Record recession free run looks set to continue for some time – Westpac

According to Bill Evans, analyst at Westpac, Australia has not had a recession, which is formally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth or negative growth in annual terms since the early 1990’s.

Key Quotes

“There is ample evidence that the economy is weak:

• GDP per capita has contracted over the year.
• Consumer spending per capita has contracted over the year.
• Private domestic demand has contracted over the year.

In terms of how the economy might “feel” to households, in particular, these measures certainly point to a downbeat economic climate. But this is not a recession with the associated extreme pain for households, businesses, and institutions.”

“So why has Australia not experienced a technical recession since the early 1990’s?

In terms of how the economy might “feel” to households, in particular, these measures certainly point to a downbeat economic climate.

But this is not a recession with the associated extreme pain for households, businesses, and institutions.”