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May 23, 2025RETAIL TRADE, MARCH 2025 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, March 2025 vs February 2025)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.7% to $1,904 million, the fastest growth among the provinces. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.8% to $69.8 billion. Eight provinces reported growth in retail trade. Manitoba reported the steepest decline.
Year over year (March 2025 vs March 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 5.2% in March compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 5.6% year-over-year. All provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island reported the slowest growth.
Year to date (January-March 2025 vs January-March 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 3.7% in January-March compared to the same period last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 5.2% year-to-date. All provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island reported the slowest growth.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($1.278 billion), food/beverage ($958 million), gas stations ($743 million) and general merchandise stores ($635 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-March 2025.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in motor vehicles/parts, health/personal care, and clothing. Gas stations, building materials/garden supply and sports/books/hobbies/music reported declines.
Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average (common for a smaller province). Nova Scotia's strong sales growth in March was a rebound from the decline reported in February.
E-Commerce
In March 2025, Canada's ecommerce sales decreased another 2.1% compared to the previous month, declining to $4.19 billion, or to 6.0% 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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