Subscribe to the BlogAustralia's economy grew strongly in the final three months of 2009, capping a year in which it was the only major economy to avoid recession. The nation grew 0.9% from the July-to-October quarter, its biggest expansion since March 2008, the government's statistics bureau said. Australia's growth was "the envy of the developed world," Treasurer Wayne Swan said. For the whole of 2009, Australia's economy expanded 2.7%.By contrast, the economies of the UK, Germany and Japan shrank 5% in 2009, and the US contracted by 2.4%. This means that most of the developed nations have grown and have come out of recession.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, Australia said machinery and equipment spending surged almost 11% from the previous three months.
It avoided the worst of the slump due to huge government spending and massive Chinese demand for its commodities.