capital-intensive

American  

[kap-i-tl-in-ten-siv] / ˈkæp ɪ tl ɪnˈtɛn sɪv /

adjective

1. requiring or using a very large amount of capital relative to the need for or use of labor.

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capital-intensive Cultural  

1. A term describing industries that employ relatively few laborers but that use expensive equipment. (Compare labor-intensive.)

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Etymology

Origin of capital-intensive

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Brazil’s coffee-growing monoculture left much of the country dependent on imported food, particularly white flour from the slave-worked mills of Richmond, which in turn encouraged the development of new capital-intensive wheat plantations in Virginia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

"It's unprecedented to scale a capital-intensive business so quickly."

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Energy companies haven’t historically been valued on an earnings basis, as the industry is famously capital-intensive and known for high levels of debt.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

The country’s ports industry enjoys a benign competitive environment, as the market’s capital-intensive nature and regulatory requirements raise the barriers to entry for new private players, the analysts note.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

The development of an export market for natural   gas is a bright spot for future growth prospects, but improvement in   the capital-intensive hydrocarbons sector does little to reduce   Egypt's persistent unemployment.

From The 2004 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency