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March 22, 2024RETAIL TRADE JANUARY 2024 Monthly (seasonally adjusted January 2024 vs December 2023)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.2% to $1,820 million. Nationally, retail trade decreased 0.3% to $67.0 billion. In percentage growth, six provinces reported monthly increases in retail trade led by Prince Edward Island. British Columbia reported the largest decline.
Year over year (January 2024 vs January 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 0.02% over the last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 0.9%. Four provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade. New Brunswick and Ontario reported the largest gains, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba reported the largest declines..
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($365 million), food/beverage ($311 million), gas stations ($253 million) and general merchandise stores ($197 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's January sales. The largest January 2024 vs January 2023 increases in percentage terms were reported in motor vehicles/parts, furniture, general merchanise, electronic/appliances stores. Sports/books/hobbies/music stores and gas stations recorded the only January 2024 vs January 2023 declines.
Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average - which is common for a smaller province - and have kept pace with national retail sales growth.
E-Commerce
In January 2024, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 3.5% over the previous month to $3.84 billion, or to 5.7% of total retail sales.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table: 20-10-0056-01, Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
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