What drove the 6.5 per cent surge in Australian private new capital expenditure in the March quarter 2026?

The spike in Australian capital expenditure (capex) was heavily driven by massive business investment in data centre infrastructure, specifically server racks and processing equipment.

Which Australian business sectors benefited the most from this capex growth?

The information media and telecommunications sector led the growth, skyrocketing 96.1 per cent to historic heights due to tech infrastructure procurement. Overall non-mining business investment jumped 8.8 per cent, while investment in the traditional mining industry remained relatively unchanged during the quarter.

How did equipment and machinery investments perform compared to building construction?

National investment in new equipment and machinery hit an all-time series high, rising 18.1 per cent overall and a massive 196.1 per cent within the telecommunications sector. In contrast, spending on physical buildings and structures fell 3.8 per cent as major manufacturing, utility, and mining projects reached completion.

Is the Australian data centre construction market slowing down?

No, data centre building construction is bucking the broader property slowdown, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of growth with a 12.6 per cent rise. While overall building capex dipped due to completing industrial projects, tech-related structural build-outs continue to expand.

Which Australian states are seeing the most economic activity from the data centre boom?

New South Wales and Victoria are absorbing the vast majority of data centre infrastructure investments, posting capex increases of 22.1 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively. South Australia recorded a flat 0.2 per cent increase, while all other Australian states and territories saw an overall decline in capex.

How have Australian businesses adjusted their forward capex guidance for the coming years?

Australian companies have aggressively revised their spending expectations upward, lifting their planned capex for 2025–26 by 4.5 per cent since the last estimate. Furthermore, the second estimate for the 2026–27 financial year was revised upward by 9.9 per cent, signaling sustained corporate commitment to tech infrastructure.

Economy

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Data centre boom drives Australian capex surge

Written by Brie CarterPublished May. 28 2026Last Updated May. 28 2026

A surge in data centre infrastructure has propelled Australian private new capital expenditure up by 6.5% in the March quarter, positioning total investment 14.6% higher than this time last year.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the record-breaking growth was heavily concentrated in technology assets.

Non-mining business investment jumped 8.8%, contrasting with a stagnant mining industry.

The information media and telecommunications sector led the charge, skyrocketing 96.1% to historic heights.

ABS Head of Business Statistics Tom Lay noted that the overall spike was primarily driven by heavy procurement of data centre equipment, including server racks and processing machinery.

The wave of spending pushed national equipment and machinery investment to its highest level in the history of the series, growing 18.1% overall and a 196.1% within the telecommunications sector alone.

Spending on physical buildings and structures dipped 3.8% as major manufacturing and mining projects reached completion.

However, data centre construction bucked this downward trend, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of growth with a 12.6% rise.

The technology boom favoured New South Wales and Victoria, which absorbed the bulk of data centre infrastructure, rising 22.1% and 12.7%, respectively.

Forward estimates show businesses have revised their expected capex upwards by 4.5% for 2025–26 and 9.9% for 2026–27, driven firmly by ongoing data centre development.