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April 06, 2022HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND CONSUMPTION, Q4 AND ANNUAL 2021 As part of its new quarterly data for Distribution of Household Economic Accounts, Statistics Canada is now providing quarterly data on household income, household final consumption expenditures and household wealth. This information is available for provinces as well as for income quintiles and age groups.
These quarterly results supplement previously-available provincial data for compensation of employees and investment in fixed capital stock. These concepts align with the Provincial and Territorial Economic Accounts, but they remain subject to revision in future releases.
Household Income
In addition to compensation of employees, household income also includes net mixed income (generated from unincorporated businesses), property income received (generated as the result of ownership of assets) and current transfers received (generally from government).
In Q4 2021, Nova Scotia's household income fell to $12.08 billion. Employee compensation, net mixed income and property income received all grew, but this was offset by a decline in transfers received as extraordinary Federal supports continue to be wound down.
For 2021, current transfers received fell by almost $900 million as Federal COVID supports wound down. This was offset by accelerated growth in employee compensation, net mixed income and a rebound in property income received.
In 2021, employee compensation grew by 5.7% in Nova Scotia. National compensation grew 9.1% with the fastest growth in Ontario and the slowest in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Net mixed income has continued to grow in 2021, up by 3.0% in Nova Scotia over 2020. National net mixed income was up 4.9% across Canada with the fastest growth in Quebec and Ontario and the slowest growth in Saskatchewan.
Property income received was up 1.2% in Nova Scotia compared to 2020. Property income grew in all provinces in 2021, led by Alberta. Nationally, property income was up 0.6%, with the slowest growth in Manitoba.
Improving economic conditions in 2021 has allowed many emergency transfer arrangements to be wound down. In 2021, current transfers received were down 7.1% in Nova Scotia and 7.7% nationally. The least declines in transfers were in New Brunswick, while transfers were down more in Ontario and Alberta.
Overall, 2021 household income growth was 1.6% in Nova Scotia and 3.9% nationally. There was faster growth in Ontario while Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province to report a decline in household income in 2021.
The addition of extraordinary transfers in 2020 resulted in acceleration of household income growth for Nova Scotia. Even as these transfers wound down in 2021, household income growth was still positive, keeping household income well above pre-pandemic levels.
Disposable income per household was lower in Q4 2021 for Atlantic Canada and Quebec. The highest disposable income per household was in Alberta.
Household Final Consumer Expenditures
Nova Scotia's household final consumer expenditures fell in Q2 2020 but rebounded in Q3 and Q4 of 2020. After a dip in Q1 2021 (which may be attributable to seasonal consumption patterns), Nova Scotia's consumer spending has increased to over $8.9 billion in Q4 2021.
Nova Scotia's consumer expenditures increased 7.9% in 2021 to $33.59 billion, more than making up for losses during 2020.
The decline in household final consumer expenditures in 2020 was smaller in Nova Scotia than it was nationally while the rebound in 2021 kept pace with the national average.
Household final consumption averaged $19,483 in Q4 2021. This was below the national average of $22,033. Alberta reported the highest per household expenditures while Prince Edward Island reported the lowest.
The largest consumer expenditure category is housing, utilities and household energy, followed by transport. Average quarterly household expenditures have gone up in Nova Scotia in all categories since the first quarter of 2020 except housing (flat), health (flat), education and communication. Note that education and health spending reported here refer only to market expenditures, not government services provided to households.
Nova Scotians spend more on housing and utilities than other Atlantic provinces, but less than the national average per household in Q4 2021. Nova Scotia households spend less than the national average in most expenditure categories, except communications and alcohol and tobacco, on which Nova Scotians spend more, on average.
At the beginning of the pandemic (Q2 2020), there was a large rise in household net savings as expenditures fell while incomes rose. However, these positive net savings are starting to turn negative - notably in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0663-01 Distributions of household economic accounts, income, consumption and saving, Canada, provinces and territories, quarterly (x 1,000,000)
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