Growth across the Australian economy has slowed to its lowest rate in more than five years after it expanded by a lower than expected 0.4 per cent in the first three months of the year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday reported annual growth edged down to 1.8 per cent for the past year, down from 2.4 per cent in the year to the end of December.

The result suggests the economy will grow much slower than anticipated in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's April budget. Credit:AAP

For the first time since the 1982 recession, per capita GDP - economic growth per person - fell for the third consecutive quarter. The overall growth rate has halved since the June quarter of 2018.

The annual result suggests the economy will grow much slower than anticipated in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's April budget, which forecast growth of 2.25 per cent through 2018-19.