IT Investment Surge Drives Capex to 2012 Mining Boom Highs – ABS
(5 June 2026 – Australia) New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data reveals investment in data centres nearly doubled in Q1 2026, driving capital expenditure growth to 6.5 percent in the three months to March.
The ABS data showed investment in machinery and equipment increased 18 percent over the March quarter, stronger than any result recorded during the mining boom. The strong level of business investment represents the fastest quarterly rate recorded since the peak of the mining boom in 2012.
The result reflects exceptionally strong asset finance volume growth forecasts by CFOs and treasurers in East & Partners newly released Asset Finance service, now entering its 20th year with consecutive reporting since 2006 encompassing asset and equipment financing trends across ten asset types based on direct interviews with 1,200 enterprises with active asset financing arrangements in place.
While economists have estimated the data centre boom will be worth over A$150 billion in investment, broad based capex growth remains subdued with Treasury estimating there will be no overall boost to economic growth and productivity from the Albanese government’s most significant changes to the tax system in a quarter of a century.
Australia was the second largest investment destination for data centres globally in 2024 and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has declared that Australia could become a data centre capital of the world.
“Australia’s data centre investment pipeline is worth A$155 billion but up to half of it will be spent on imported equipment, limiting the impact of the boom on economic growth. Much of the high-tech equipment used to fit out data centres is imported and therefore does not contribute to the domestic economy during the investment phase” commented Westpac Senior Economist Pat Bustamante.
“The lift in investment was the result of investment in data centre equipment, specifically server racks and processing equipment, significantly boosting overall investment figures. This quarter’s rise builds on a similar spike in data centre investment recorded in the September quarter 2025” stated ABS Head of Business Statistics, Tom Lay.
Source: ABS