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April 24, 2024RETAIL TRADE FEBRUARY 2024 Monthly (seasonally adjusted February 2024 vs January 2024)
In Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 1.5% to $1,823 million. Nationally, retail trade decreased 0.1% to $66.7 billion. In percentage growth, three provinces reported monthly increases in retail trade led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Nova Scotia reported the largest decline.
Year over year (February 2024 vs February 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 3.2% over the last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 1.2%. Six provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade. Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan reported the largest gains, and Alberta reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (January-February 2024 vs January-February 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 3.1% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade was up 0.7%. Six provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia reported the largest gains, and Alberta reported the largest decline.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($731 million), food/beverage ($618 million), gas stations ($509 million) and general merchandise stores ($390 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's January-February sales. The largest year-to-date increases in percentage terms were reported in motor vehicles/parts, general merchandise, and miscelanious retail. Building material stores, sports/books/hobbies/music stores, electronic/appliances stores and clothing stores recorded the only 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 - and have kept pace with national retail sales growth.
E-Commerce
In February 2024, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 5.7% over the previous month to $3.82 billion, or to 5.7% of total retail sales.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table: 20-10-0056-01, Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)