Australia now rated among top economies of the world

Australia’s economy has jumped sharply in the last quarter of 2016, allowing the resource-rich economy to extend its 25-year streak without recession.

It brings the country close to breaking the Netherlands’ record of modern-era uninterrupted economic growth.

Australia’s economy had contracted in the third quarter but the surprise rebound pulled annual figures back to a 2.4% growth rate.

The recovery was attributed largely to strong exports and consumer spending.

Australia has not seen a recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth – since June 1991.

It is now just one quarter short of the Dutch record set between 1982 and 2008

“The outlook for the next year is reasonably bright,” Shane Oliver of AMP Capital told the BBC. “We are seeing a pickup in export volumes and we have seen a big rebound in key commodity prices.”

Mr Oliver added: “Growth should probably get back to 2.5%, maybe 3% over the course of this year.”

Estimates by the country’s central bank see growth picking up to around 3% for 2017 thanks to the recovering commodity prices.