The Australian economy expanded 0.4 per cent in the final quarter of 2022/23, driven by capital investment and exports of services.

The pace of quarterly growth was steady from March after the earlier result was revised up to 0.4 per cent by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

On an annual basis, the bureau recorded a 2.1 per cent increase in gross domestic product for the 2022/23 financial year.

This is based on a measure comparing the economy between the June quarter of 2022 and the June quarter of 2023 and excluding part of the recovery from the lockdowns.

ABS head of national accounts Katherine Keenan said capital investment and exports of services were the main drivers of GDP growth in the quarter.

“This was the seventh straight rise in quarterly GDP, and annual growth remained above trend, reflecting the absence of significant COVID-19 disruptions, such as lockdowns, in 2022/23,” she said.

GDP per capita, however, fell 0.3 per cent, to reflect a population growing strongly as borders reopened.

GDP is the primary way that activity in the economy is measured.

Growth numbers in the national accounts were broadly expected to be underwhelming as the economy responded to an aggressive series of interest rate hikes and elevated inflation.

The growth rate was tipped to rise by 0.3 per cent in the three months to June and by 1.8 per cent over the year.

– AAP