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December 21, 2023RETAIL TRADE, OCTOBER 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted October 2023 vs September 2023)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 0.3% to $1,778 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.7% to $66.9 billion. Nine provinces reported monthly increases in retail trade led by Saskatchewan. Alberta was the only province reporting a decline.
Year over year (October 2023 vs October 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 0.1% over the last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 2.2%. Eight provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade. Quebec and Prince Edward Island reported the largest gains, and Newfoundland and Labrador the smallest increase.
Year to date (January-October 2023 vs January-October 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade was up 3.5% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade increased 2.2% with all provinces reporting increases. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain and Ontario reported the smallest gain.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($4.285 billion), food/beverage ($3.497 billion), gas stations ($2.554 billion) and general merchandise stores ($2.252 billion) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's year-to-date sales. The largest year-to-date increases in percentage terms were reported in health/personal care, miscellaneous retail and motor vehicles/parts categories. Gas stations and building materials/garden supplies stores recorded the largest year-to-date declines.
Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average - which is common for a smaller province - but have kept pace with national retail sales growth.
E-Commerce
In October 2023, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 1.8% over the previous month to $3.93 billion, or to 5.9% of total retail sales. Year-to-date ecommerce sales is 5.7% of total year-to-date 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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