New capital expenditure rises 2.4%: Australia

Private new capital expenditure (capex) rose 2.4 per cent in the March quarter 2023, and was 6.3 per cent higher than the March quarter in 2022, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Ben Dorber, ABS head of new capital expenditure statistics, said: “Today’s new capital expenditure publication covers business investments in new equipment, machinery, buildings and structures, and gives us important insights into Australian business’ future investment plans.”

“For example, we saw this quarter that capex rose for mining and non-mining industries, as businesses increased investment in new equipment and machinery by 3.7 per cent and building and structures by 1.3 per cent.”

“The 3.7 per cent rise in new equipment and machinery was the largest quarterly rise since the March quarter in 2021.”

	Building – Seasonal ($m)	Building – Trend ($m)	Equipment – Seasonal ($m)	Equipment – Trend ($m)
Mar-03	6,548	6,477	9,280	9,362
Jun-03	6,707	6,870	9,142	9,417
Sep-03	7,132	7,021	9,704	9,537
Dec-03	7,244	7,203	9,763	9,699
Mar-04	7,122	7,416	9,383	9,665
Jun-04	7,813	7,598	9,674	9,820
Sep-04	7,800	7,844	9,990	10,226
Dec-04	8,042	8,146	11,279	10,646
Mar-05	8,831	8,706	10,528	10,926
Jun-05	9,336	9,612	11,298	11,314
Sep-05	10,875	10,599	11,847	12,006
Dec-05	11,910	11,663	12,985	12,659
Mar-06	12,285	12,588	12,901	12,817
Jun-06	13,581	12,891	12,396	12,658
Sep-06	12,651	12,724	12,616	12,474
Dec-06	11,963	12,679	12,499	12,592
Mar-07	14,658	14,324	13,007	13,104
Jun-07	15,407	14,857	13,669	13,446
Sep-07	14,467	15,178	13,673	13,736
Dec-07	15,588	15,273	14,032	14,066
Mar-08	15,744	15,413	14,425	14,645
Jun-08	15,391	15,999	15,425	15,243
Sep-08	16,995	17,285	15,680	15,405
Dec-08	19,360	18,318	14,973	15,200
Mar-09	18,150	18,397	14,713	14,790
Jun-09	17,777	17,468	14,985	14,741
Sep-09	16,088	16,649	14,357	15,031
Dec-09	16,542	16,523	15,962	15,237
Mar-10	17,413	17,102	14,908	14,928
Jun-10	17,526	18,025	14,336	14,354
Sep-10	19,562	18,839	13,664	14,216
Dec-10	19,371	19,627	15,101	14,847
Mar-11	20,951	21,189	15,903	15,655
Jun-11	23,008	23,521	16,005	16,226
Sep-11	27,625	26,395	16,580	16,472
Dec-11	27,994	29,223	16,631	16,606
Mar-12	31,873	31,414	16,667	16,703
Jun-12	33,156	32,460	16,688	16,866
Sep-12	31,836	32,254	17,145	16,998
Dec-12	31,288	31,211	17,038	16,858
Mar-13	30,491	30,883	16,239	16,493
Jun-13	31,112	31,328	15,960	15,909
Sep-13	32,456	31,724	15,581	15,298
Dec-13	31,546	31,713	14,322	14,686
Mar-14	30,001	31,363	14,585	14,378
Jun-14	31,340	31,099	14,197	14,584
Sep-14	30,635	30,610	15,331	15,025
Dec-14	29,794	29,498	15,222	15,206
Mar-15	27,457	27,813	14,981	14,882
Jun-15	26,593	26,342	14,237	14,216
Sep-15	23,993	24,749	13,454	13,744
Dec-15	24,576	23,715	13,756	13,653
Mar-16	22,210	22,102	13,817	13,835
Jun-16	19,900	20,321	14,068	13,959
Sep-16	18,962	19,131	13,872	13,884
Dec-16	19,093	18,976	13,741	13,757
Mar-17	19,366	19,261	13,658	13,703
Jun-17	19,461	19,574	13,840	13,812
Sep-17	19,838	19,742	14,064	14,110
Dec-17	19,786	19,722	14,425	14,435
Mar-18	19,399	19,456	14,973	14,786
Jun-18	19,171	19,123	14,789	15,135
Sep-18	18,684	18,904	15,736	15,415
Dec-18	19,270	19,024	15,490	15,615
Mar-19	18,728	18,709	15,623	15,653
Jun-19	18,058	18,346	15,669	15,539
Sep-19	18,261	17,982	15,258	15,390
Dec-19	17,454	17,589	15,259	15,136
Mar-20	17,235	16,985	14,935	14,976
Jun-20	16,288	16,304	13,602	15,035
Sep-20	15,766	15,894	13,674	15,289
Dec-20	15,895	15,963	14,670	15,649
Mar-21	16,455	16,451	15,900	15,915
Jun-21	17,216	17,049	16,101	16,028
Sep-21	17,364	17,535	16,031	16,037
Dec-21	17,912	17,749	16,017	16,082
Mar-22	17,824	17,702	16,144	16,225
Jun-22	17,481	17,705	16,580	16,357
Sep-22	17,842	18,013	16,382	16,477
Dec-22	18,791	18,547	16,473	16,639
Mar-23	19,044	19,080	17,077	16,853

Most industries recorded a rise in equipment capex spending, while a large fall in the construction industry (-23.1 per cent) partly offset the strong results seen elsewhere.

“The fall in construction businesses investing in new equipment and machinery follows a period of high investment in recent years and may demonstrate some of the impact from continued falls in building approvals. Construction businesses expectations for future investment, however, remain positive,” Mr Dorber said.

/ABS Public Release. View in full here.

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