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June 13, 2025WHOLESALE TRADE, APRIL 2025 The wholesale trade data reported below now excludes petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons as well as oilseed and grain.
Monthly (seasonally adjusted, April 2025 vs March 2025)
Nova Scotia wholesale trade contracted 3.2% to $1.229 billion. National wholesale trade decreased 2.3% to $84.02 billion. Seven provinces reported declines in April, led by Saskatchewan. Three provinces reported higher monthly wholesale trade, with the fastest gain in New Brunswick.
Year-over-year (seasonally adjusted, April 2025 vs April 2024)
Nova Scotia wholesale trade grew 0.5% in April when compared with the same month last year. Canada's wholesale trade grew 0.1%, year-over-year. Six provinces reported lower year-over-year wholesale trade with Manitoba reporting the steepest decline. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest year-over-year rise in wholesale trade.
Year-to-date (January-April 2025 vs January-April 2024)
Nova Scotia wholesale trade increased 4.4% in the first four months of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024. Canada's wholesale trade increased 3.0%. All provinces except New Brunswick reported year-to-date increases in wholesale trade. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest gain.
Food and beverage wholesale represents the largest share of Nova Scotia's wholesale trade (excluding petroleum products and oilseed and grains), followed by building materials, machinery and equipment, and motor vehicles and parts.
Wholesale trade in food and beverages was down year-to-date while the other reported categories had rising sales, led by motor vehicles/parts.
TRENDS
National wholesale trade (excluding petroleum products and oilseed and grains) was relatively stable from 2023 to mid-2024 and had been trending upward until a sharp decline in April 2025. Nova Scotia wholesale trade follows a similar upward trend as national wholesale trade, with more volatility from month to month.
Wholesale inventories as a share of sales trended down through 2023 and 2024, but have risen in recent months, rising to a value of 1.54 in April 2025.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 20-10-0074-01 Wholesale trade, sales (x 1,000); Table 20-10-0076-01 Wholesale trade, inventories (x 1,000)
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