Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia

Latest release

Quarterly statistics about actual and expected private new capex investment spend on buildings and equipment by industry

Reference period
December 2025
Released
26/02/2026
  • Next Release 28/05/2026
    Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia, March 2026
  • Next Release 27/08/2026
    Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia, June 2026
  • Next Release 26/11/2026
    Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia, September 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
26/02/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

  • Total new capital expenditure rose by 0.4%
  • Buildings and structures rose by 2.3%
  • Equipment, plant and machinery fell by 1.7%
  • Estimate 1 for 2026-27 is $158.4b. This is 7.3% higher than Estimate 1 for 2025-26

In this release

This release provides a Spotlight article Data Centres in Economic Statistics. The article details how the recent increase in investment in data centres is captured in ABS statistics, and how the operations of data centres will appear within the suite of ABS economic statistics. 

Key data items
 Dec Qtr 25 
($m)
Sep Qtr 25 to Dec Qtr 25 
(% change)
Dec Qtr 24 to Dec Qtr 25 
(% change)
Seasonally adjusted(a) 
 Total new capital expenditure49,2890.47.8
 Buildings and structures26,0802.36.5
 Equipment, plant and machinery23,210-1.79.4
Trend(a) 
 Total new capital expenditure49,1402.87.6
 Buildings and structures25,9391.75.9
 Equipment, plant and machinery23,0703.89.0
  1. In volume terms

New capital expenditure in volume terms

Total new capital expenditure

  • The trend estimate for total new capital expenditure rose 2.8%
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for total new capital expenditure rose 0.4% 
  1. Trend break added to 'Total new capital expenditure' trend series for June 2020, Dec 2018, Sep 2015, Sep 2008, Mar 2007 and Jun 2003.

Buildings and structures

  • The trend estimate for buildings and structures rose 1.7%
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for buildings and structures rose 2.3%
  1. Trend break added to 'Buildings and Structures new capital expenditure' trend series for Dec 2018, Sep 2015, Sep 2008, Mar 2007 and Jun 2003.

Equipment and machinery

  • The trend estimate for equipment, plant and machinery rose 3.8%
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for equipment, plant and machinery fell 1.7% 
  1. Trend break added to 'Equipment and machinery new capital expenditure' trend series for Mar 2007.

Mining and Non-mining

  • The trend estimate for Mining fell 0.2%
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for Mining fell 0.8%
  • The trend estimate for Non-mining rose 3.6%
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for Non-mining rose 0.8%
  1. Trend break added to 'Total non-mining capital expenditure' trend series for Dec 2018, Sep 2015, Sep 2008, Mar 2007 and Jun 2003.

Financial years at current prices

Timing and composition

The graphs below show the seven estimates of actual and expected expenditure for each financial year.

The timing and composition of these estimates are as follows:

Composition of estimates 
Estimate based on data reported at:Data on long-term expected expenditureData on short-term expected expenditureData on actual expenditure
1Jan-Feb, 5-6 months before period begins12 monthsNilNil
2Apr-May, 2-3 months before period begins12 monthsNilNil
3Jul-Aug, at beginning of period6 months6 monthsNil
4Oct-Nov, 3-4 months into period6 months3 months3 months
5Jan-Feb, 6-7 months into periodNil6 months6 months
6Apr-May, 9-10 months into periodNil3 months9 months
7Jul-Aug, at end of periodNilNil12 months

Total capital expenditure

  • Estimate 5 for 2025-26 is $199.3b
  • This is 4.3% higher than Estimate 4 for 2025-26
  • Estimate 1 for 2026-27 is $158.4b
  • This is 7.3% higher than Estimate 1 for 2025-26

Buildings and structures

  • Estimate 5 for 2025-26 is $109.7b
  • This is 1.5% higher than Estimate 4 for 2025-26
  • Estimate 1 for 2026-27 is $92.0b
  • This is 2.7% higher than Estimate 1 for 2025-26

Equipment and machinery

  • Estimate 5 for 2025-26 is $89.6b
  • This is 8.0% higher than Estimate 4 for 2025-26
  • Estimate 1 for 2026-27 is $66.3b
  • This is 14.3% higher than Estimate 1 for 2025-26

Mining

  • Estimate 5 for 2025-26 is $55.9b
  • This is 1.8% higher than Estimate 4 for 2025-26
  • Estimate 1 for 2026-27 is $46.6b
  • This is 0.4% lower than Estimate 1 for 2025-26

Non-mining

  • Estimate 5 for 2025-26 is $143.4b
  • This is 5.4% higher than Estimate 4 for 2025-26
  • Estimate 1 for 2026-27 is $111.8b
  • This is 10.8% higher than Estimate 1 for 2025-26

Detailed industry movements by asset type

Industry chain volume seasonally adjusted total capex percentage change
Sep Qtr 25 to Dec Qtr 25Dec Qtr 24 to Dec Qtr 25
% change% change
Mining-0.80.8
Manufacturing1.914.7
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste8.97.2
Construction8.1-13.0
Wholesale Trade-3.02.5
Retail Trade4.314.5
Accommodation and Food Services-6.018.5
Transport, Postal and Warehousing-3.919.2
Information Media and Telecommunications-14.238.3
Financial and Insurance Services-7.6-16.8
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate6.0-4.3
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services14.12.1
Administrative and Support Services2.230.5
Education and Training7.311.8
Health Care and Social Assistance2.519.2
Arts and Recreation Services23.421.1
Other Services17.6-10.8
Industry chain volume buildings and structures percentage change
Sep Qtr 25 to Dec Qtr 25Dec Qtr 24 to Dec Qtr 25
% change% change
Mining-0.2-0.7
Manufacturing-1.124.7
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste8.57.2
Construction15.840.8
Wholesale Trade-7.36.9
Retail Trade7.933.0
Accommodation and Food Services-0.226.2
Transport, Postal and Warehousing-7.7-0.3
Information Media and Telecommunications5.930.1
Financial and Insurance Services-3.4-33.6
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate7.5-8.7
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services14.40.7
Administrative and Support Services25.019.7
Education and Training10.313.8
Health Care and Social Assistance-4.915.1
Arts and Recreation Services30.346.4
Other Services-7.71.8
Industry chain volume equipment and machinery percentage change
Sep Qtr 25 to Dec Qtr 25Dec Qtr 24 to Dec Qtr 25
% change% change
Mining-2.34.7
Manufacturing3.99.1
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste12.16.8
Construction7.3-16.0
Wholesale Trade-1.30.9
Retail Trade3.08.6
Accommodation and Food Services-11.611.1
Transport, Postal and Warehousing-2.130.8
Information Media and Telecommunications-30.149.6
Financial and Insurance Services-8.2-12.9
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate3.54.2
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services13.92.3
Administrative and Support Services-0.832.5
Education and Training-3.64.3
Health Care and Social Assistance11.123.6
Arts and Recreation Services17.92.9
Other Services29.6-14.4

State movements

State chain volume seasonally adjusted total capex percentage change
Sep Qtr 25 to Dec Qtr 25Dec Qtr 24 to Dec Qtr 25
% change% change
New South Wales-0.35.2
Victoria2.012.9
Queensland0.72.2
South Australia4.825.4
Western Australia3.99.7
Tasmania0.0-5.8
Northern Territory1.9-6.3
Australian Capital Territory-14.3-0.5

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website.

Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.

Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure - estimates of actual and expected new capital expenditure by private businesses for selected industries in Australia

Enquiries

For more information on these and related statistics, enquire via our Contact us page.

 

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5625.0.

Methodology

Scope

This publication contains estimates of actual and expected new capital expenditure by private businesses for selected industries in Australia.

Classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, ANZSIC, 2006.

Geography

Data available for:

  • Australia
  • States and territories

Source

The survey is conducted on a quarterly basis. 

It is based on a random sample of approximately 10,000 units which is stratified by industry, state/territory and derived employment size.

Collection method

Respondents are asked to provide data on the same basis as their own management accounts from an online survey. 

 

Concepts, sources and methods

Not applicable for this release

History of changes

Telstra's privatisation, effective from March quarter 2007.

 

View full methodology
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