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:
March 21, 2025RETAIL TRADE, JANUARY 2025 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, January 2025 vs December 2024)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.1% to $1,910 million. Nationally, retail trade decreased 0.6% to $69.4 billion. Seven provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador, reported growth in retail trade. Québec reported the largest decline.
Year over year (January 2025 vs January 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 3.6% in January compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 4.2% 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.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($428 million), food/beverage ($322 million), gas stations ($262 million) and general merchandise stores ($204 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January 2025.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in clothing, motor vehicles/parts, and miscellaneous retail sales. Building materials/garden supply reported the only decline, while electronics/appliances reported the slowest sales growth in January 2025 compared with the same period in the previous year.
Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average (common for a smaller province) and have exceeded national retail sales growth.
E-Commerce
In January 2025, Canada's ecommerce sales decreased 0.9% compared to the previous month, declining to $4.22 billion, or to 6.1% of total retail sales.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table: 20-10-0056-01, Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
<--- Return to Archive
