Australia’s manufacturing sector featured prominently in the latest increase in business investment, with new capital expenditure rising 6.4 per cent in the September quarter, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The ABS said private new capital expenditure was 6.9 per cent higher than the same quarter last year, based on seasonally adjusted, chain volume measures.
Tom Lay, ABS head of business statistics, said the overall lift in investment was driven by strong spending on data centres and higher investment in air transport.
“The rise is the largest increase since March quarter 2021. Business investment rose 8.6 per cent in the non-mining industries, while the mining industry rose 0.9 per cent,” Lay said.
ABS noted information media and telecommunications recorded the largest rise of any industry, up 40.7 per cent. New equipment and machinery increased 11.5 per cent, with non-mining equipment and machinery up 13.0 per cent and mining equipment and machinery up 4.5 per cent.
“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 per cent,” Lay said.
Transport, postal and warehousing also contributed to the overall increase, rising 40.7 per cent, supported by higher investment in air transport.
Total capex for buildings and structures rose 2.1 per cent. Non-mining industries recorded a 3.6 per cent increase, partly offset by a 0.4 per cent fall in mining.
According to the ABS, spending on large projects in manufacturing, accommodation and food services, and information media and telecommunications supported the rise in buildings and structures investment.
South Australia recorded the largest increase among states and territories at 8.2 per cent, followed by Queensland (7.3 per cent) and Victoria (6.7 per cent).
The release also included the fourth estimate of planned capital expenditure for 2025-26. Businesses revised their expected spending upward by 9.4 per cent from the previous estimate.
