The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
November 19, 2024ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR OCTOBER 2024 Nova Scotia’s all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) accelerated to 1.5% year-over-year in October 2024, up from 0.9% year-over-year in September.
Nova Scotia's inflation has been slowing after peaking at 9.3% in June 2022, though there have been periods of rising inflation, particularly due to higher energy prices.
Nationally, consumer prices accelerated to 2.0% year-over-year growth in October 2024, up from 1.6% in September. Inflation was highest in Alberta and slowest in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The most significant upward contributors (combining price increase as well as share of the consumption basket) to Nova Scotia's 1.5% year-over-year inflation were: passenger vehicle insurance premiums, electricity, rent, food purchased from restaurants, and mortgage interest cost.
The largest downward year-over-year contributions were from: fuel oil and other fuels, home entertainment equipment, parts and services, gasoline, telephone services, and travel tours.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's all items CPI was up 0.3% from September to October 2024. National prices rose 0.4% with increases reported for all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador with no change. New Brunswick and Manitoba reported the fastest percentage increases on a monthly basis.
Major upward contributors to Nova Scotia's monthly consumer prices were: furniture, property taxes and other special charges, personal care supplies and equipment, rent, and food purchased form restaurants. Major downward contributors were: traveller accommodation, paper, plastic and aluminum foil supplies, homeowners' home and mortgage insurance, inter-city transportation, and travel tours.
Energy prices play a significant role in inflation rates. Nova Scotia's energy prices were down 6.8% from October 2023 to October 2024. Year-over-year energy prices were down 3.5% nationally with all provinces reporting lower energy prices. Manitoba reported the fastest year-over-year decline in energy prices while Ontario reported the smallest decline.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's energy prices fell 0.1% from September to October 2024. National energy prices were up 0.3% with five provinces reporting higher prices compared to the previous month. Saskatchewan and Manitoba reported the largest monthly declines in energy prices. Prince Edward Island reported the largest monthly increase.
Nova Scotia's energy prices (and overall inflation) are more sensitive to fluctuations in the global price of crude oil. In October 2024, gasoline prices were down 7.2% compared to a year ago in Nova Scotia. All provinces except Alberta reported lower gasoline prices, with the steepest drop in Manitoba.
Gasoline prices were unchanged from September to October in Nova Scotia (+0.7% nationally). Five provinces reported higher monthly gasoline prices with the largest increase Prince Edward Island and Ontario, with the largest decline in Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotia's year-over-year fuel oil prices were down 22.7%. Nationally, the fuel oil and other fuels index declined 18.7% compared to October 2023. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island reported the steepest drops in fuel oil prices while British Columbia reported the smallest decline.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's fuel oil prices were down 0.7%. National fuel oil prices were up 3.2% from September to October. Saskatchewan reported the steepest monthly fuel oil price increase, while Nova Scotia reported the only decline.
Food price inflation rose to 3.7% in Nova Scotia (October 2024 vs October 2023). National food prices increased 3.0% in October. Food prices were up in all provinces. Manitoba reported the highest food price inflation while Québec reported the slowest food price growth.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's food prices increased 0.7% from September to October. National food prices were up 0.1% from September to October. Seven provinces reported higher prices on a monthly basis. The largest monthly food price decline was in Québec while the largest monthly food price growth rates were reported in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.
Food and energy prices are heavily influenced by volatile global commodity markets. Nova Scotia's underlying inflation rate excluding food and energy was 2.0% from October 2023 to October 2024. Nationally, inflation excluding food and energy was 2.3% with year-over-year increases in all provinces. Alberta reported the fastest growth while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the slowest growth in inflation excluding food and energy prices.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.2% from September to October 2024. Nationally, prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.5% with increases in eight provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the only monthly decline while Manitoba reported the fastest gain.
Year-over-year shelter cost inflation was 2.1% in Nova Scotia in October 2024. National shelter prices were up 4.8% with increases in all provinces. Alberta and British Columbia reported the largest year-over-year increase in shelter prices while Prince Edward Island reported the slowest increase.
Monthly shelter costs were up 0.5% in Nova Scotia from September to October 2024. Nationally, shelter costs were up 0.7% with increases in all provinces, led by Saskatchewan. The slowest increases were reported in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba.
Among detailed food products with available data, Nova Scotia's year-over-year inflation was fastest for preserved fruit, pork, and sugar and confectionaries. The largest year-over-year price declines were for fish/seafood, butter and baked goods .
In detailed shelter cost components, fuel oil reported the steepest year-over-year price decline. Prices for most other shelter cost components were up year-over-year, led by water, electricity, and rent.
Household operations/furnishings costs were up 2.1% overall. The largest year-over-year price increases were for furniture and textiles. Prices fell for telephones, paper, plastic, aluminum products, and cleaning products.
Clothing and footwear prices were down 3.9% year-over-year in October with declines in all sub-components except clothing accessories and jewellery and clothing materials and services.
Health and personal care costs were up 2.7% year-over-year on gains in all sub-components except non-prescribed medicine. Personal care services reported the largest price increases.
Overall transportation costs were down 0.9% year-over-year in October. Vehicle insurance had the largest increase while gasoline had the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's overall prices for recreation, education and reading were down 0.5% from October 2023 to October 2024 with the fastest decline in home entertainment equipment and services and the fastest increase for reading(excl. textbooks).
Nova Scotia's prices for alcohol, tobacco and recreational cannabis were up 4.0% year-over-year with growth in all categories. Alcohol from licensed establishments had the largest increase.
Trends
Since the start of the Bank of Canada's inflation-targeting monetary policy regime, inflation for all items has generally been in the 0-4% range. Periods of above target inflation are typically followed by periods of slow price growth or declines. The most recent acceleration in inflation was the strongest since the inflation-targeting era began, though this inflation has receded with tighter monetary policy and lower commodity prices.
Many of these periods of accelerated and slowed inflation are attributable to volatile commodity prices, especially energy prices. Once the more volatile commodity prices are excluded, inflation in Nova Scotia has largely been below 2% for much of the last 20 years. However, the recent rise in inflation through 2021-2024 spread beyond commodity prices, resulting in the longest period under the Bank of Canada's inflation-targeting regime with Nova Scotia's CPI excluding food and energy above 3%. In October 2024, Nova Scotia's inflation excluding food and energy has slowed to 2.0% year-over-year.
The Bank of Canada examines 'core' measures of inflation that are intended to remove the effects of volatile components and capture underlying inflation trends that are more connected to capacity in the Canadian economy. Core measures of inflation may also indicate where all items inflation is headed.
Canada's core measures of inflation remained mostly at or below the Bank's target of 2% for over a decade prior to 2021. However, core inflation measures rose in 2022, peaking at over 6% for the CPI-common measure before declining around the beginning of 2023.
The Bank of Canada's year-over-year core inflation measures in October 2024 were:
- CPI-common: 2.2% (up from 2.1% the previous month)
- CPI-median: 2.5% (up from 2.3% the previous month)
- CPI-trim: 2.6% (up from 2.4% the previous month)
The core CPI excluding volatile products and the effects of indirect taxes was up 1.7% (up from 1.6% in the previous month).
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 18-10-0004-01 Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted; Table 18-10-0256-01 Consumer Price Index (CPI) statistics, measures of core inflation and other related statistics - Bank of Canada definitions
<--- Return to Archive
