Sydney’s fast-growing tech sector and strong economy is driving a data-led digital gold rush to the city – according to the annual pulse check on the city’s performance, released today. 

The State of the City report, produced by urban policy think tank Committee for Sydney and BDO, analyses what the data tells us about the coming year: how the city’s growing, how people are moving around the city, where innovation is underway and the emerging trends set to shape the year ahead.  

Jeremy Gill, Head of Policy at the Committee for Sydney, said: “What we’re seeing is the acceleration of the next economic boom – it’s literally a digital gold rush.”

“Data centres are the infrastructure that will underpin the industries of the future – everything from AI and quantum computing to robotics and autonomous transport – and global demand is growing by the day.”

“We need to move quickly to ensure Sydney doesn’t lose the advantages of a head start in data centre development. At the same time, we must invest in the industries that will benefit from this infrastructure, so that Sydney becomes Australia’s innovation city, not just its server cupboard.”

“In a city of over 5 million people, this also means ensuring that data centres do not compete with homes and other businesses for water and energy. Accelerating renewable energy generation and storage and investing in rainfall-independent drinking water supply are key to this.”  

James Smithers, Project & Infrastructure Advisory Partner at BDO, said: “Sydney is punching well above its weight when it comes to tech and innovation prowess.”

“We’re in the top three for VC investment in APAC and Australia is only behind the US on data centre investment, with Sydney well ahead of the rest of Australia.”

“We need to ensure data centre growth continues to be supported and balanced with innovations in sustainable energy and water supply.”  

Sydney’s economic strength is underpinned by the diversity and complexity of its industries, like professional services, finance, construction and health. This breadth has helped the city adapt and grow, and to compete at a global scale. 

Key data points on the Sydney economy, which drove more than 20% of Australia’s GDP in 2024/25:  

• Top 3 for venture capital investment across APAC – only behind Shanghai and Bengaluru – with funding reaching $690 million in 2025
  • 57% of venture capital allocated in Australia over the last 24 years has flowed to NSW
  • In the tech sector alone, NSW has produced 17 unicorns, with 28 more in the pipeline 
  • In 2022, innovation-intensive firms employed 136,000 people in NSW, more than mining and agriculture combined 
•  Second only to the USA on investment in data centres, with $6.7 billion invested in 2024
  • Sydney leads the nation with 88 data centres – over 1/3 of all data centres nationally but totalling more than 60% of the country’s capacity 
  • Data centre development forecast to expand significantly, drawing up to $150 billion in business investment by 2027, concentrated in Western Sydney.  

The full State of the City report is here: https://sydney.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/State-of-the-City-2026-A-bold-city.pdf  

As well as the powerhouse growth of Sydney’s tech sector, other key themes in the report include the strong uptake of batteries and the shift to public transport. 

Sydneysiders take energy needs into their own hands 

As data centre demand grows, so does the pressure on already stretched energy and water supply, with electricity consumption projected to increase from 3 TWh currently to 17TWh in 2050. Accounting for only existing and committed projects, data centres in Sydney alone would consume over 11 TWh in 2050.  

However, Sydney’s residents are taking energy needs into their own hands, with significant increases in battery uptake since the introduction of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme in mid-2025. 

Key data points on the uptake of batteries across Sydney and the state:  

• Battery installations hit almost 10,000 in July 2025, compared with almost 8,000 installations recorded across all of 2024
  • Over the last six months, almost twice as many batteries have been installed in NSW than any other state 
  • Most solar battery capacity since July 2025 has been delivered in areas across Greater Western Sydney – nine of the top 20 suburbs by number of installations are in NSW, all in Greater Western Sydney. 

Jeremy Gill, Head of Policy at the Committee for Sydney, said: “The phenomenal growth of home batteries is one of the many good news energy stories of 2025. Since June, we have seen more home batteries installed in Sydney per month than we used to see per year in the years prior.” 

“We need to make sure that everyone – not just homeowners – benefits from the growth in batteries and the access they provide to affordable renewable energy.”  

James Smithers, Project & Infrastructure Advisory Partner at BDO, said: “We’re seeing that, in Sydney, energy generation and storage is increasingly moving into the hands of consumers.”

“This is most obvious in Greater Western Sydney, where battery uptake since the expansion of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme has been phenomenal. It makes sense with rising heat being an ongoing challenge in Sydney, particularly in the west.”

“Bringing in innovations and learnings from commercial renewable energy projects can allow Sydney’s consumer-led energy boom to better support demands and mitigate fears of blackouts as Sydney gets hotter.” 

Getting out of the car and onto public transport  

Public transport is back in Sydney, bigger and better than ever before, and reaching pre-covid levels despite around 35% of the workforce continuing to work from home for part of the week.  

Metro usage has skyrocketed since the first section of the City & Southwest line opened, increasing to 72 million trips in 2025. With the southwest extension set to launch in September this year, momentum is only expected to grow. 

 Key data points on transport across Sydney: 

• Buses are now the most used form of public transport across Sydney, overtaking trains for the first time in 2025 
  • This is a big change from a decade ago, when trains accounted for 53% of travel compared to 43% on buses. 
•  Since the opening of the City Metro, station car parks are reaching capacity 50 minutes earlier 
  • On some days, an estimated 2,400 motorists compete for 975 car spaces at Tallawong Metro Station.  

• Share bike usage surged in 2025, with levels increasing more than 100% since 2024 
  • Riders in the City of Sydney travelled over 6.2 million kilometres throughout 2025, up from 2.8 million in 2024 
  • The new Oxford Street cycleway had a 165% increase in share bike usage along the corridor. 

Jeremy Gill, Head of Policy at the Committee for Sydney, said: “Metro demand isn’t just seen on platforms and in carriages, it’s seen in the commuter car parks filling up earlier as people change their commute patterns to use this new service.”

“The solution to this isn’t providing more car parks. It’s investing in bus routes that connect surrounding communities to stations with frequent and reliable services and active transport links that encourage people to walk or cycle.”  

James Smithers, Project & Infrastructure Advisory Partner at BDO, said: “Sydney needs a bold vision to integrate our public transport network across the whole city, combining rail, bus and cycling infrastructure, connecting people to where they live, work and play.”

“Buses provide an economical solution, allowing more users to leverage the significant investments made into Sydney’s rail and metro network. Bondi Junction provides a blueprint for an integrated transport hub, with over 80 services per hour in the peak, in contrast to Tallawong, located at the end of the metro line, with only 15 services.”

“Building more commuter car parks is not the answer.”  

Now in its sixth year, the agenda-setting Sydney Summit is presented by the Committee for Sydney at ICC Sydney, in partnership with BDO, Built, Hassell, ALTRAC Light Rail, Maddocks, Ipsos and Lendlease.