Australia and the “great recession” While several major countries have had one of their most, if not their most, serious recessions in the post-War period, Australia had arguably one of its mildest. We had a relatively sharp but very brief downturn in aggregate demand and economic activity late in 2008, and then returned to a path of expansion during the first half of 2009.
As most recently estimated by the ABS, real GDP grew by 2¾ per cent through last year – a bit below average, but much higher than for most other high-income economies. This was supported by monetary and fiscal stimulus, the recovery in Asia, and a sound financial system.