Business equipment spending statistics show the scale and uneven direction of U.S. capital investment in 2022. The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) covers new and used structures and equipment purchased by U.S. nonfarm businesses, so these figures are broader than retail sales of office equipment.
Key Business Equipment Spending Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2022, U.S. nonfarm companies invested $2,197.0 billion in new and used structures and equipment.
- In 2022, U.S. employer companies accounted for $1,899.9 billion, or 86.5%, of combined capital spending by companies with and without employees.
- In 2022, U.S. companies without employees accounted for $297.1 billion, or 13.5%, of combined capital spending.
- U.S. employer businesses’ spending on new and used structures and equipment was $1,899.9 billion in 2022, 12.9% above revised 2021 spending.
- U.S. employer businesses spent $1,176.9 billion on new and used equipment in 2022, up 12.0% from revised 2021.
- New equipment represented $1,115.0 billion, or 94.7%, of employer equipment spending in 2022.
- Used equipment represented $61.8 billion, or 5.3% of employer equipment spending, in 2022.
- U.S. manufacturing employer companies spent $237.8 billion on equipment in 2022, up 10.3% from 2021.
- U.S. durable-goods manufacturers spent $139.3 billion on equipment in 2022, up 13.8% from 2021.
- U.S. nondurable-goods manufacturers spent $98.4 billion on equipment in 2022, up 5.8% from 2021.
- U.S. information employer companies spent $178.9 billion on equipment in 2022, up 26.2% from 2021.
- U.S. retail employer companies spent $77.1 billion on equipment in 2022, up 13.7% from 2021.
- U.S. transportation and warehousing employer companies spent $78.6 billion on equipment in 2022, up 35.9% from 2021.
- U.S. mining employer companies spent $27.7 billion on equipment in 2022, up 38.2% from 2021.
- U.S. wholesale trade employer companies spent $34.9 billion on equipment in 2022, up 22.1% from 2021.
- U.S. accommodation and food services employer companies spent $18.9 billion on equipment in 2022, up 25.5% from 2021.
- U.S. arts, entertainment and recreation employer companies spent $10.2 billion on equipment in 2022, up 36.6% from 2021.
- Robotic equipment accounted for $12,960 million, or 1.1% of total equipment expenditures, in 2022 among businesses covered by ACES.
- In 2022, 9.7% of responding U.S. companies postponed some budgeted capital expenditures because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contents
- Key Business Equipment Spending Statistics
- National Business Equipment Spending Scale and New-versus-Used Trends
- Business Equipment Spending by Major Industry
- Manufacturing and Information Equipment Spending Data
- Infrastructure, Trade and Logistics Equipment Spending
- Services, Hospitality and Construction Equipment Spending
- Robotics and Capital-Budget Changes
National Business Equipment Spending Scale and New-versus-Used Trends
The Census Bureau’s Annual Capital Expenditures: 2022 estimates that U.S. nonfarm companies with and without employees invested $2,197.0 billion in new and used structures and equipment in 2022. Employer businesses supplied most of that total, while companies without employees represented a smaller but separately measured share.
| U.S. company population | 2022 spending | Share or change |
|---|---|---|
| Companies with employees | $1,899.9 billion | 86.5% of combined total |
| Companies without employees | $297.1 billion | 13.5% of combined total |
| All covered companies | $2,197.0 billion | New and used structures and equipment |
For employer businesses, combined new and used structures and equipment spending rose from revised 2021 spending of $1,682.1 billion to $1,899.9 billion in 2022, a 12.9% increase. New structures and new equipment together reached $1,786.4 billion, up 13.2% from revised 2021 spending of $1,578.3 billion.
The used category was $113.5 billion in 2022 compared with revised 2021 spending of $103.8 billion, but Census reported that change as not statistically significant. Companies without employees were not asked for 2021 capital expenditures, so their 2022 figure has no comparable year-over-year change.
Equipment alone totaled $1,176.9 billion for employer businesses in 2022, up 12.0% from revised 2021 spending of $1,050.3 billion. New equipment made up $1,115.0 billion, or 94.7%, while used equipment made up $61.8 billion, or 5.3%; their reported year-over-year increases were 12.0% and 12.3%, respectively.
These are current-dollar estimates and use ACES definitions. ACES excludes foreign-owned operations of domestic companies, U.S. territories, government operations including USPS, agricultural production establishments, and private households.
Business Equipment Spending by Major Industry
Industry results are for U.S. employer companies and use 2017 NAICS classifications. The Census tables distinguish equipment from total capital expenditures, which include both structures and equipment.
| Industry | 2022 equipment spending | Change from 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | $237.8 billion | +10.3% |
| Utilities | $92.4 billion | +1.7%, not statistically significant |
| Finance and insurance | $147.0 billion | -3.4% |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | $81.7 billion | +7.4%, not statistically significant |
| Retail trade | $77.1 billion | +13.7% |
Manufacturing total capital expenditures were $314.3 billion in 2022, up 10.6% from $284.2 billion in 2021, including $76.5 billion on structures, up 11.5%. Retail total capital expenditures were $134.9 billion, up 12.0% from $120.4 billion.
Utilities’ equipment spending increased from $90.9 billion to $92.4 billion, but Census marked the change not statistically significant. Finance and insurance equipment spending fell from $152.1 billion to $147.0 billion, while total capital expenditures rose 2.6% from $174.2 billion to $178.6 billion; Census also marked that total change not statistically significant.
Real estate and rental and leasing equipment spending rose from $76.1 billion to $81.7 billion, a change Census marked not statistically significant. These significance notes matter because a current-dollar percentage change is not automatically evidence of a statistically distinct movement.
Manufacturing and Information Equipment Spending Data
The manufacturing split shows a larger increase in durable-goods equipment spending than in nondurable-goods equipment spending during 2022.
- Durable-goods manufacturing equipment spending was $139.3 billion in 2022, up 13.8% from $122.5 billion in 2021.
- Durable-goods manufacturing total capital expenditures were $179.1 billion, up 15.3% from $155.3 billion.
- Nondurable-goods manufacturing equipment spending was $98.4 billion, up 5.8% from $93.1 billion.
- Nondurable-goods manufacturing total capital expenditures were $135.2 billion, up 5.0% from $128.8 billion.
Information-sector equipment spending was $178.9 billion in 2022, up 26.2% from $141.7 billion in 2021. Its total capital expenditures reached $253.9 billion, up 30.2% from $195.0 billion, while information-sector structures spending rose 40.8% from $53.3 billion to $75.0 billion.
The information figures include both equipment and structures in the total-capital measure. They should therefore be read as separate equipment and total-investment indicators, not as interchangeable measures.
Infrastructure, Trade and Logistics Equipment Spending
Infrastructure, distribution and resource industries recorded some of the strongest equipment-spending increases in the 2022 ACES results.
| Industry | Equipment spending in 2022 | 2022 change | Total capital expenditures in 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transportation and warehousing | $78.6 billion | +35.9% | $118.3 billion, +26.0% |
| Mining | $27.7 billion | +38.2% | $112.5 billion, +33.9% |
| Wholesale trade | $34.9 billion | +22.1% | $49.3 billion, +22.0% |
Transportation and warehousing equipment spending rose from $57.9 billion in 2021 to $78.6 billion in 2022. Its total capital expenditures increased from $93.9 billion to $118.3 billion.
Mining equipment spending rose from $20.1 billion to $27.7 billion, and total capital expenditures increased from $84.0 billion to $112.5 billion. Wholesale trade equipment spending increased from $28.6 billion to $34.9 billion, while total capital expenditures rose from $40.4 billion to $49.3 billion.
All figures in this section are U.S. employer-company estimates in current dollars. The total-capital figures include structures and equipment, so they provide investment context rather than an equipment-only substitute.
Services, Hospitality and Construction Equipment Spending
Service industries show a mixed pattern: several sectors increased equipment spending, while health care and professional services were broadly flat or lower.
- Health care and social assistance equipment spending was $48.8 billion in 2022, down 0.7% from $49.1 billion; Census did not identify the change as statistically significant.
- Construction equipment spending was $44.9 billion, up 14.1% from $39.3 billion, a change Census marked not statistically significant.
- Accommodation and food services equipment spending was $18.9 billion, up 25.5% from $15.1 billion.
- Administrative and support and waste-management equipment spending was $30.8 billion, up 32.3% from $23.3 billion.
- Professional, scientific and technical services equipment spending was $34.2 billion, down 3.6% from $35.5 billion; Census marked the change not statistically significant.
- Educational services equipment spending was $8.3 billion, up 4.1% from $8.0 billion; Census marked the change not statistically significant.
- Arts, entertainment and recreation equipment spending was $10.2 billion, up 36.6% from $7.5 billion.
Health care and social assistance total capital expenditures fell 5.1%, from $115.3 billion to $109.4 billion. Construction total capital expenditures rose 19.4%, from $45.0 billion to $53.7 billion, but Census marked that change not statistically significant.
Accommodation and food services total capital expenditures rose 28.6%, from $31.1 billion to $40.0 billion. Administrative and support and waste-management total capital expenditures rose 33.6%, from $28.2 billion to $37.7 billion.
Other services excluding public administration had $25.4 billion in total capital expenditures in 2022, down 0.5% from $25.6 billion in 2021; Census marked that change not statistically significant. This final measure is total capital expenditures, not equipment-only spending.
Robotics and Capital-Budget Changes
The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) Library reports U.S. capital expenditures on robotic equipment of $12,960 million in 2022 among businesses covered by ACES. Robotic equipment represented 1.1% of total equipment expenditures, and Census reported the robotics change as not statistically different from 2021.
The pandemic-impact questions measure changes to budgeted capital expenditures, not realized dollar spending. In 2022, 6.0% of responding U.S. companies canceled some budgeted capital expenditures, 9.7% postponed some, 8.2% decreased some, and 1.5% increased some because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey program.
The 2022 ACES survey description says the employer component sampled about 50,000 companies from a universe of 5.8 million employer companies. That sampling context qualifies the survey percentages; it does not convert them into dollar estimates.
ACES transitioned to the Annual Integrated Economic Survey, making 2022 the latest ACES reference year used here. Across the statistics, revised 2021 values are explicitly identified, current-dollar measures are not inflation-adjusted, and detail may not add exactly to totals because of rounding.