Australia reported lower than expected growth last year, as a steep housing downturn and lacklustre consumer spending ignited broader concerns about the economic outlook. 

Gross domestic product for the three months to the end of December grew 0.2 per cent over the previous quarter, lower than the 0.3 per cent forecast from economists polled by Reuters. The annual growth rate was 2.3 per cent, missing economists’ estimates of a 2.5 per cent expansion. 

Australia’s economy has experienced one of the longest periods of growth without recession in the developed world, due mainly to its high rates of population growth and its bountiful mineral resources. But it is battling the twin challenges posed by slower growth in China, its biggest trading partner, and a domestic housing downturn that some economists have warned could end its run.