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July 21, 2023RETAIL TRADE, MAY 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted May 2023 vs April 2023)
In Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 1.3% to $1,781 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.2% to $66.0 billion. Six provinces reported monthly increases in retail trade. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest gain, and Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Year over year (May 2023 vs May 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.4% over the last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 0.5%. Seven provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade. Alberta reported the largest gain while Saskatchewan had the largest decline.
Year to date (January-May 2023 vs January-May 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade was up 5.6% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade increased 2.9% with all province reporting increases. Alberta reported the largest gain and Ontario reported the smallest.
Nova Scotia (unadjusted) retail trade increased 6.0% to $8.24 billion through the first five months of the year. In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($1.972 billion), food/beverage ($1.637 billion) and gas stations ($1.278 billion) contributed the most to year-to-date sales.
In percentage terms, electronics/appliances, building materials/garden supplies and furniture recorded year-to-date declines. The largest year-to-date increases were reported in health/personal care as well as among miscellaneous retail categories.
Trends
Retail sales moved sharply during periods of pandemic-related restrictions. In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average - which is common for a smaller province - but growing faster than the national pace.
E-Commerce
In May 2023, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 2.1% over the previous month to $3.68 billion, or 5.6% 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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