Australia Plant Machinery Capex Drops 1.3% in Q1

Private new capital expenditure on equipment, plant, and machinery in Australia expanded by 11.5% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September 2025, accelerating sharply from an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in the previous quarter. The rise was largely driven by non-mining industries, which recorded a 13.0% jump, while spending on mining equipment and machinery grew 4.5%. ‘Investment in data centres reached new highs, driving the strong rise in equipment and machinery capex for the information media and telecommunications industry, which went up 91.5%," said Tom Lay, Head of Business Statistics at the ABS. On an annual basis, spending on equipment, plant, and machinery climbed by 9.9% in the year to September, following a revised 0.1% rise in Q2.

Private new capital expenditure on equipment, plant, and machinery in Australia expanded by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June 2025, following an upwardly revised 1.7% contraction in the previous quarter. The increase was largely driven by non-mining industries, which recorded a 0.5% rise, partially offset by a 0.8% decline in mining-related equipment investment. “The 22.8% rise in information media and telecommunications reflected a return to strength in data centre investment after lighter spending in the March quarter. Retail trade also rose by 18.9%, following an increase in supply chain and fulfilment centre automation,” said Robert Ewing, Head of Business Statistics at the ABS. However, the rise in new equipment and machinery investment was offset by a sharp 21.7% drop in construction. On an annual basis, spending on equipment, plant, and machinery fell by 1.1% in the year to June, following a downwardly revised 2.1% decline in Q1.

Private new capital expenditure on equipment, plant, and machinery in Australia fell by 1.3% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to March 2025, following a downwardly revised 0.6% contraction in the previous quarter. The decline was largely driven by non-mining industries, which saw a 2.0% drop, partially offset by a 2.4% increase in mining-related equipment investment. By industry, the sharpest declines in capital expenditure were recorded in arts and recreation services (-27.0%), information media and telecommunications (-17.9%), financial and insurance services (-9.2%), electricity, gas, water and waste services (-8.8%), professional, scientific and technical services (-7.9%), and retail trade (-5.2%). On a yearly basis, spending on equipment, plant, and machinery fell by 1.8% through the year to March, reversing a downwardly revised 2.3% gain in the third quarter.