Private new capital expenditure (capex) rose 0.8 per cent in the December quarter 2023 (seasonally adjusted, chain volume measure) to be 7.9 per cent higher than a year ago, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said: “Business investment grew in the mining and non-mining industries in the December quarter. Mining rose 1.1 per cent and non-mining was up 0.6 per cent.
“Electricity, gas, water, and waste services saw the largest rise of any industry, up 14.7 per cent. This was from increased investment in renewable energy infrastructure.”
Capex was up 1.5 per cent for new buildings and structures, while new equipment and machinery was down 0.1 per cent.
| Building – Seasonal ($m) | Building – Trend ($m) | Equipment – Seasonal ($m) | Equipment – Trend ($m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec-03 | 7,670 | 7,626 | 10,196 | 10,128 |
| Mar-04 | 7,542 | 7,852 | 9,798 | 10,093 |
| Jun-04 | 8,272 | 8,045 | 10,102 | 10,255 |
| Sep-04 | 8,259 | 8,306 | 10,432 | 10,679 |
| Dec-04 | 8,515 | 8,626 | 11,778 | 11,118 |
| Mar-05 | 9,351 | 9,218 | 10,994 | 11,410 |
| Jun-05 | 9,885 | 10,178 | 11,798 | 11,815 |
| Sep-05 | 11,515 | 11,223 | 12,372 | 12,537 |
| Dec-05 | 12,611 | 12,349 | 13,559 | 13,219 |
| Mar-06 | 13,008 | 13,329 | 13,473 | 13,384 |
| Jun-06 | 14,380 | 13,650 | 12,945 | 13,219 |
| Sep-06 | 13,396 | 13,473 | 13,175 | 13,026 |
| Dec-06 | 12,667 | 13,424 | 13,053 | 13,149 |
| Mar-07 | 15,520 | 15,167 | 13,583 | 13,684 |
| Jun-07 | 16,313 | 15,731 | 14,274 | 14,041 |
| Sep-07 | 15,318 | 16,071 | 14,278 | 14,344 |
| Dec-07 | 16,505 | 16,172 | 14,653 | 14,688 |
| Mar-08 | 16,671 | 16,320 | 15,063 | 15,293 |
| Jun-08 | 16,296 | 16,940 | 16,108 | 15,917 |
| Sep-08 | 17,995 | 18,302 | 16,374 | 16,086 |
| Dec-08 | 20,498 | 19,396 | 15,636 | 15,873 |
| Mar-09 | 19,218 | 19,479 | 15,364 | 15,444 |
| Jun-09 | 18,823 | 18,496 | 15,648 | 15,393 |
| Sep-09 | 17,033 | 17,628 | 14,993 | 15,696 |
| Dec-09 | 17,514 | 17,494 | 16,669 | 15,911 |
| Mar-10 | 18,438 | 18,112 | 15,568 | 15,589 |
| Jun-10 | 18,559 | 19,084 | 14,971 | 14,989 |
| Sep-10 | 20,717 | 19,935 | 14,269 | 14,845 |
| Dec-10 | 20,465 | 20,769 | 15,769 | 15,504 |
| Mar-11 | 22,196 | 22,438 | 16,607 | 16,348 |
| Jun-11 | 24,392 | 24,918 | 16,713 | 16,944 |
| Sep-11 | 29,258 | 27,955 | 17,314 | 17,201 |
| Dec-11 | 29,615 | 30,937 | 17,366 | 17,340 |
| Mar-12 | 33,753 | 33,261 | 17,404 | 17,442 |
| Jun-12 | 35,120 | 34,374 | 17,427 | 17,612 |
| Sep-12 | 33,715 | 34,151 | 17,904 | 17,750 |
| Dec-12 | 33,101 | 33,041 | 17,791 | 17,604 |
| Mar-13 | 32,290 | 32,701 | 16,958 | 17,222 |
| Jun-13 | 32,959 | 33,178 | 16,667 | 16,613 |
| Sep-13 | 34,372 | 33,592 | 16,270 | 15,975 |
| Dec-13 | 33,380 | 33,573 | 14,955 | 15,336 |
| Mar-14 | 31,771 | 33,208 | 15,231 | 15,014 |
| Jun-14 | 33,195 | 32,933 | 14,825 | 15,229 |
| Sep-14 | 32,443 | 32,410 | 16,009 | 15,690 |
| Dec-14 | 31,523 | 31,227 | 15,895 | 15,879 |
| Mar-15 | 29,076 | 29,449 | 15,644 | 15,540 |
| Jun-15 | 28,173 | 27,896 | 14,866 | 14,844 |
| Sep-15 | 25,404 | 26,204 | 14,049 | 14,352 |
| Dec-15 | 25,998 | 25,104 | 14,365 | 14,258 |
| Mar-16 | 23,524 | 23,404 | 14,430 | 14,447 |
| Jun-16 | 21,087 | 21,524 | 14,689 | 14,576 |
| Sep-16 | 20,083 | 20,257 | 14,484 | 14,498 |
| Dec-16 | 20,189 | 20,085 | 14,350 | 14,366 |
| Mar-17 | 20,511 | 20,397 | 14,264 | 14,309 |
| Jun-17 | 20,622 | 20,735 | 14,450 | 14,423 |
| Sep-17 | 21,024 | 20,905 | 14,684 | 14,735 |
| Dec-17 | 20,909 | 20,873 | 15,067 | 15,075 |
| Mar-18 | 20,547 | 20,599 | 15,639 | 15,440 |
| Jun-18 | 20,315 | 20,257 | 15,438 | 15,802 |
| Sep-18 | 19,803 | 20,022 | 16,428 | 16,098 |
| Dec-18 | 20,373 | 20,136 | 16,186 | 16,309 |
| Mar-19 | 19,827 | 19,804 | 16,320 | 16,346 |
| Jun-19 | 19,136 | 19,425 | 16,351 | 16,222 |
| Sep-19 | 19,330 | 19,042 | 15,924 | 16,071 |
| Dec-19 | 18,472 | 18,622 | 15,950 | 15,813 |
| Mar-20 | 18,254 | 17,986 | 15,615 | 15,640 |
| Jun-20 | 17,256 | 17,266 | 14,175 | 15,691 |
| Sep-20 | 16,692 | 16,828 | 14,272 | 15,967 |
| Dec-20 | 16,816 | 16,899 | 15,344 | 16,356 |
| Mar-21 | 17,432 | 17,421 | 16,649 | 16,626 |
| Jun-21 | 18,236 | 18,057 | 16,748 | 16,726 |
| Sep-21 | 18,397 | 18,573 | 16,747 | 16,755 |
| Dec-21 | 18,958 | 18,802 | 16,769 | 16,822 |
| Mar-22 | 18,907 | 18,761 | 16,936 | 16,955 |
| Jun-22 | 18,518 | 18,748 | 17,194 | 17,057 |
| Sep-22 | 18,915 | 19,020 | 17,114 | 17,165 |
| Dec-22 | 19,867 | 19,730 | 17,245 | 17,411 |
| Mar-23 | 20,435 | 20,545 | 17,910 | 17,814 |
| Jun-23 | 21,363 | 21,110 | 18,260 | 18,167 |
| Sep-23 | 21,384 | 21,483 | 18,365 | 18,354 |
| Dec-23 | 21,712 | 21,739 | 18,349 | 18,424 |
The increase in building and structure investments was also driven by the increased spending on renewable energy infrastructure in the electricity, gas, water, and waste services industry, up 17.5 per cent.
Ongoing investment in data centres also led to a strong rise in capex for the information media and telecommunications industry up 6.5 per cent.
Equipment and machinery capex was relatively flat. Non-mining investment fell 0.3 per cent, offset by a rise in mining of 1.0 per cent.
“While new investment in equipment and machinery was flat in December quarter, it remains at a high level. Compared to the December quarter 2022, capex is up 6.4 per cent following strong growth in vehicles, particularly in the construction industry,” Mr Ewing said.
Queensland had the largest rise of the states and territories, up 9.3 per cent in the December quarter. This was offset by a large fall in South Australia, down 17.4 per cent.
Figures released today also include updated expectations of planned capex for the financial year. Businesses revised up their expected capex spend by 4.0 per cent (in current prices) since the last estimate three months ago.
This release also holds the first estimate for planned capex for 2024-25, which was up 12.6 per cent on the first estimate for 2023-24.
“The rise in planned capital investment shows that businesses expect continued growth in new capital expenditure for the next financial year.
“The information media and telecommunications industry predict a large rise, based on planned investment in new data centres.
“The electricity, gas, water, and waste services industry also expect a very strong rise again from planned investment in renewable energy infrastructure,” Mr Ewing said.
