The Australian economy grew at a strong pace during the first three months of this year, on the back of improved household consumption, government demand and exports. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, GDP rose by 1% on quarterly basis above expectations of 0.9%.
It should be noted that GDP growth during the period was the fastest pace since the last quarter of 2011. The previous reading was revised from 0.4% to 0.5%. On a yearly basis, GDP rose by 3.1% and forecasts were only at 2.8%, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2016.
The export sector was the main driver of economic growth in the first quarter with improved exports of mineral goods and higher commodity prices in general, with exports rising by 2.4% to contribute 0.5% to overall growth. While imports rose slightly by 0.5%, contributing only 0.1% to the growth of the economy.
