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AU: Capital Expenditures
| Consensus | Consensus Range | Actual | Previous | Revised | |
| Quarter over Quarter | 2.0% | -6.0% to 4.0% | -3.6% | 6.5% | 6.9% |
| Year over Year | 10.7% | 14.6% |
Highlights
Australia's survey of private capital expenditures shows spending in this category fell 3.6 percent on the quarter in the three months to June, weakening sharply from the 6.9 percent increase recorded in the three months to March. Private capex rose 10.7 percent on the year in the three months to March after growth of 14.6 percent previously.
The fall in headline capex was driven by big drop in spending on equipment plant and machinery after record spending on investment in data centres in the previous quarter. This category of spending fell 8.9 percent on the quarter after a previous increase of 18.1 percent. Spending on buildings and structures rose 3.8 percent after a previous fall of 3.8 percent. Growth was mixed on a sectoral basis, with capex falling 5.3 percent on the quarter in the non-mining sector but increasing 1.6 percent in the mining sector.
Today's release also includes the survey's revised forecast for private capex in the 2025-26 fiscal year (in value terms). Officials now expect it to be A$210.0 billion, up 1.2 percent from the previous estimate made three months earlier. Officials have also published a revised estimate of $200.7 billion for capex in the 2026-27 fiscal year, up 15.5 percent from the previous estimate.
The capex survey covers around 60 percent of total business investment in Australia. More comprehensive information on investment will be published in the GDP report for this quarter, scheduled for release next week.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
Capex seen up only 2 percent on quarter, slowing from 6.5 percent in Q1.
Definition
Private New Capital Expenditure & Expected Expenditure data are estimates of actual and expected new capital expenditure by private businesses for selected industries in Australia. New capital expenditure refers to the acquisition of new tangible assets either on own account or under a finance lease and includes major improvements, alterations and additions. In general, this is expenditures charged to fixed tangible assets accounts excluding expenditure on second hand assets unless these are imported for the first time.
Description
Capital expenditures are a key to sustained growth and this survey provides information about capital spending and the types of assets that are drawing the most attention from industry. The survey, which is conducted quarterly by mail, is based on a random sample of approximately 8,000 units. The sample is stratified by industry, state/territory and derived employment size. The figures obtained from the selected units are supplemented by data from units which have large capital expenditure and are outside the sample framework or not adequately covered by it. Among the assets covered are buildings and structures including both business and residential, equipment for these structures as well as infrastructure spending. Equipment includes fixed equipment such as machinery, autos, office equipment, etc.