The Australian dollar plummeted to fresh 4½-year lows on Wednesday as the country entered a technical income recession and gross domestic product expanded just 0.3 per cent in the September quarter.

At midday, the Aussie was trading at US84.07¢, having earlier dropped about half a US cent to US83.92¢. The sharp decline reflected market surprise at the weakness of Wednesday's national accounts.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the value of goods and services produced in the quarter expanded 0.3 per cent in seasonally-adjusted terms, translating to year-on-year growth of 2.7 per cent.