SYDNEY, Dec 6 Reuters Australia39;s current account fell into deficit for the first time in three years last quarter as robust domestic demand sucked in imports and miners paid more dividends abroad, though the drag on economic growth was not as large as first feared.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed the current account had slid to a deficit of A2.3 billion 1.54 billion in the JulySeptember quarter.

That was down from a surplus of A14.7 billion in the previous quarter and far from forecasts for a A6.2 billion surplus.

The deficit reflected a narrowing but robust trade surplus, which was offset by a record high income deficit in the September quarter, said Grace Kim, acting head of international statistics at the ABS.

The income shortfall swelled to A33.2 billion in the quarter, driven by bumper dividend payments to foreign investors.

However, net exports still subtracted only 0.2 percentage points from growth in gross domestic product GDP in the third quarter, whereas analysts had looked for a drag of 0.6 percentage points.

On the other hand, separate data out on Tuesday showed government spending had subtracted 0.2 percentage points from growth in the quarter. 

The GDP data are due on Wednesday. Before Tuesday39;s statistics were released, analysts forecast growth of 0.7 in the quarter, driven mainly by household consumption.

Annual growth is seen jumping to a heady 6.3, though mainly because of a oneoff boom late last year as the…