Economic growth in the five year period from 2004/05 to 2008/09, despite the crisis-affected year of 2008/09, was at an average of 8.5 per cent. This clearly represented an acceleration in the pace of growth and marks a distinct break from any previous five year period. Per capita GDP grew by an average of 6.9 per cent in these five years and by 7.8 per cent in the three years 2005/06 to 2007/08.