General highlights

In 2011, U.S. nonfarm businesses invested $1,225.6 billion in new and used structures and equipment, an increase of 10.8 percent over the 2010 total of $1,105.7 billion.^(1,2) (See Summary Table A, and Tables 1a and 1b) Total spending on new structures and new equipment was $1,155.0 billion, and increase of 11.7 percent over the revised 2010 total of $1,033.8 billion.

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Expenditures in 2011 for new and used structures totaled $454.7 billion, an increase of $25.1 billion (5.8 percent) from 2010. (See Figure 1) Of this amount, $425.1 billion (93.5 percent) was spent for new structures, up $29.7 billion (7.5 percent) from 2010. Expenditures for used structures totaled $29.6 billion, which was not statistically different from 2010.

Spending on new and used equipment totaled $770.9 billion in 2011, up $94.8 billion (14.0 percent) from 2010. Of this amount, $729.9 billion (94.7 percent) was for new equipment, an increase of $91.6 billion (14.3 percent) from 2010. Expenditures for used equipment totaled $41.0 billion, an increase of $3.2 billion (8.5 percent) from 2010.

The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey collects data from companies with and without employees. Companies with employees accounted for $1,152.2 billion (94.0 percent) of total capital spending in 2011. These companies invested $423.8 billion in structures, an increase of $27.4 billion (6.9 percent) from 2010, and $728.4 billion in equipment, up $88.7 billion (13.9 percent) from 2010. (See Figure 2 in report)

Companies without employees accounted for $73.4 billion of capital spending in 2011, with $30.9 billion spent on structures and $42.5 billion spent on equipment.(See Summary Table B below.)

(Data in this section are based on the 2012 North American Industry Classification System. Data are only for companies with employees because companies without employees are not asked to report capital expenditures by sector or industry.)

Of the 19 NAICS major industry sectors covered in this report, 7 had a statistically significant increase in capital spending in 2011 compared with 2010, 1 had a statistically significant decrease, and 11 showed no statistically significant change. The sector-level values of structures and equipment may not sum to the values of total capital expenditures due to rounding. (See Summary Chart A, Figure 3, and Figure 4)

Of the 132 industries covered in this report, 48 had a statistically significant increase in spending in 2011 compared with 2010; 17 had a statistically significant decrease; and 67 showed no statistically significant change.

¹ The 2009 estimate of $1090.7 billion presented in this year's report reflects a $0.6 billion upward revision in the amount reported in last year's report. The present report compares business investment in 2010 and 2009. For an assessment of investment spending patterns over a longer period, see 2011 Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns-2000-2009 at: //www.census.gov/econ/aces/report/2011/capitalspendingreport2011.pdf
² Estimated measures of sampling variability have been calculated for each estimate and are used to construct 90-percent confidence intervals (or ranges) for all estimates of change. If the estimated range of change contains zero (0), then it is uncertain whether there was an increase or a decrease; that is, the change is not statistically different from zero (0), and the current estimate is not statistically different from the prior estimate at the 90-percent confidence level. See the "Reliability of the Estimates"; Section of Sampling and Estimation Methodologies for more information on confidence intervals and statistical significance.

The 2009 estimate of $1090.7 billion presented in this year's report reflects a $0.6 billion upward revision in the amount reported in last year's report. The present report compares business investment in 2010 and 2009. For an assessment of investment spending patterns over a longer period, see 2011 Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns-2000-2009.

Estimated measures of sampling variability have been calculated for each estimate and are used to construct 90-percent confidence intervals (or ranges) for all estimates of change. If the estimated range of change contains zero (0), then it is uncertain whether there was an increase or a decrease; that is, the change is not statistically different from zero (0), and the current estimate is not statistically different from the prior estimate at the 90-percent confidence level. See the "Reliability of the Estimates"; Section of Sampling and Estimation Methodologies for more information on confidence intervals and statistical significance.