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July 23, 2026RETAIL TRADE, MAY 2026 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, May 2026 vs April 2026)
Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 0.8% to $1.96 billion and was the only province to report a decline. Nationally, retail trade rose 1.0% to $73.71 billion.
Year over year (May 2026 vs May 2025)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 4.8% in May compared to the same month last year. Nationally, it increased 5.9% year-over-year. All provinces reported increasing retail trade year-over-year, led by Alberta.
Year to date (January-May 2026 vs January-May 2025)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 4.4% in January-May compared to the same period last year. Nationally, it was up 3.6% year-to-date. All provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by Alberta.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($2.561 billion), food/beverage ($1.638 billion), gas stations ($1.545 billion) and general merchandise ($1.247 billion) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-May 2026.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in gas stations followed by general merchandise. Furniture reported the largest year-to-date decline in retail sales.
Trends
In recent months Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average (common for a smaller province), but have outpaced national retail sales.
E-Commerce
In May 2026, Canada's e-commerce sales decreased 1.5% from the previous month, to $5.02 billion, or 7.5% 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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