Australia became the only major western nation to avoid recession during the current global economic slump as it posted surprise growth in the first quarter of 2009.

The data came a day after better-than-expected export figures and led Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to hail Australia as the strongest advanced economy in the world.

Official data showed 0.4 per cent gross domestic product growth in the three months to March, allowing it to sidestep a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Analysts had almost universally expected the economy to succumb to its first recession since the early 1990s after posting revised negative growth of 0.6 per cent in the three months to December.

On Tuesday, data showed exports of goods and services rose 2.7 per cent in the March quarter, in seasonally adjusted volume terms, while imports fell a sharp 7.0 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The jump in shipments comes as China — whose enormous demand for Australia’s resources has led to a boom for Canberra — begins to report an improvement in the economic outlook as it battles through the global downturn. “Australia is the fastest growing of all the major advanced economies, we have the lowest debt and lowest deficit of all the major advanced economies and we’re the only advanced economy at present not in recession,” Rudd said. He added his government’s stimulus spending of more than 50 billion dollars (41 billion US) since late last year had also played a major role in boosting demand and maintaining consumer confidence.

... contd.