Australia lived up to its "lucky country" nickname on Wednesday, posting the strongest annual economic expansion in nearly two years last quarter and extending a 27-year run of recession-free growth. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1 percent in the first quarter, from an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in the December quarter, while annual growth jumped to 3.1 percent from the December quarter's 2.4 percent.
The last time the economy ran that fast was in the second quarter of 2016. Wednesday's result just beat market forecasts for growth of 0.9 percent in the quarter and 2.8 percent on-year, pushing the local dollar to near a six-week high at $0.7665. Booming exports, business investment and government spending drove first quarter growth although the outlook was dimmed by cautious household spending.