Australia was one of only five G20 countries to experience weakening economic growth in the first quarter of 2026.
Figures released by the OECD last night showed that most G20 countries recorded accelerated growth in the three months to March.
By contrast, Australia joined Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey as a group of countries with declining growth.
Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell from 0.9 percent to 0.3 percent in the quarter.
Other growth declines were:
- Saudi Arabia fell from 1.3 percent to -1.2 percent
- Mexico fell from 0.7 percent to -0.6 percent
- France fell from 0.2 percent to -0.1 percent
- Turkey fell from 0.4 percent to 0.1 percent
This compared with growth or stability in all other G20 economies, with Korea rebounding from negative growth in the final quarter of 2025 to 1.8 percent growth in Q1 of 2026.
Other growth was in the United Kingdom (lifted from 0.2 percent to 0.6 percent), Japan (from 0.2 percent to 0.5 percent), the United States (from 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent), India (from 1.8 percent to 1.9 percent), China (from 1.2 percent to 1.3 percent), South Africa (from 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent) and Germany (from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent).
Growth remained strong in Indonesia (at 1.4 percent) and was also unchanged in Italy (at 0.3 percent). Canada recorded zero growth following a contraction of 0.2 percent in Q4 2025.
“Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP in the G20 area was 3.2 percent higher in Q1 2026,” the OECD said.
“Among G20 economies with available data, India recorded the highest year-on-year growth rate at 8.0 percent, while Canada recorded the lowest at -0.1 percent.”
The full report is here
