Australia is on the verge of another recession as GDP dramatically drops after lockdowns across the country Australia's economy contracted by 1.9 per cent in the September quarter By Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter For Daily Mail Australia Published: 00:53 GMT, 1 December 2021 | Updated: 01:02 GMT, 1 December 2021 Viewcomments Australia is on the verge of another recession with the economy suffering the biggest contraction since the start of the pandemic. Extended lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne caused national gross domestic product to shrink by 1.9 per cent in the September quarter. This was the sharpest downturn since Australia's economy shrunk by 6.8 per cent in the June quarter of 2020, following the national lockdowns and border closure. The summer bushfires had caused the economy to fall by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter of last year, which meant Australia sunk into recession for the first time since 1991. Australia is on the verge of another recession with the economy suffering the biggest contraction since the start of the pandemic. Another contraction in the December quarter of this year, while very unlikely, would see Australia sink into recession again in a consecutive year for the first time since 1983. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The 1.9 per cent contraction in the September quarter was the third steepest in Australian Bureau of Statistics records going back to 1959, with a 2 per cent drop recorded in the June quarter of 1974 as the OPEC oil crisis began to affect Australia. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility