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October 15, 2025WHOLESALE TRADE, AUGUST 2025 The wholesale trade data reported below now excludes petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons as well as oilseed and grain.
Monthly (seasonally adjusted, August 2025 vs July 2025)
Nova Scotia wholesale trade decreased 5.8% to $1.219 billion. National wholesale trade decreased 1.2% to $85.4 billion. Seven of ten provinces reported declines in August, led by Nova Scotia. Saskatchewan reported the fastest increase.
Year-over-year (seasonally adjusted, August 2025 vs August 2024)
Nova Scotia wholesale trade grew 2.8% in August when compared with the same month last year. Canada's wholesale trade grew 4.3%, year-over-year. All provinces except Prince Edward Island reported year-over-year increases in wholesale trade, led by New Brunswick.
Year-to-date (January-August 2025 vs January-August 2024)
Nova Scotia wholesale trade increased 5.3% in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024. Canada's wholesale trade increased 3.3%. All provinces reported year-to-date increases in wholesale trade. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest gains, while Manitoba had the slowest.
Food and beverage wholesale represents the largest share of Nova Scotia's reported wholesale trade categories, followed by building materials, motor vehicles and parts, and machinery and equipment.
Motor vehicles and parts saw the largest percentage increase in wholesale trade, while miscellaneous wholesalers were down year-to-date.
Trends
National wholesale trade (excluding petroleum products and oilseed and grains) was relatively stable from 2023 to mid-2024, and has been trending upward since then. Nova Scotia wholesale trade follows a similar upward trend as national wholesale trade, with more volatility from month to month, and has outpaced the national trend since early 2024.
Wholesale inventories as a share of sales have increased in 2025, growing to a value of 1.58 in August 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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