Covid-19 impact: Australian GDP falls most on record; recession confirmed

Australia’s economy contracted by the most on record last quarter, underscoring the need for unprecedented stimulus measures as the recovery from the nation’s first recession in almost 30 years is buffeted by Victoria state’s renewed Covid outbreak and lockdown. 

Gross domestic product plunged 7 per cent from the first three months of the year, the largest fall since records dating back to 1959, the statistics bureau said in Sydney on Wednesday. 

The slump was larger than economist forecasts of a 6 per cent drop. From a year earlier, GDP tumbled 6.3 per cent versus an estimated 5.1 per cent fall.