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August 23, 2023RETAIL TRADE, JUNE 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted June 2023 vs May 2023)
In Nova Scotia retail trade declined 1.8% to $1,742 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.1% to $65.9 billion. Six provinces reported monthly decreases in retail trade. British Columbia reported the largest decline and New Brunswick reported the largest gain.
Year over year (June 2023 vs June 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.1% over the last year. Nationally, retail trade was down 0.6%. Six provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade. Alberta reported the largest gain while Ontario had the largest decline.
Year to date (January-June 2023 vs January-June 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade was up 4.7% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade increased 2.2% with nine province reporting increases. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain and Ontario reported the only decline.
Nova Scotia (unadjusted) retail trade increased 5.0% to $10.2 billion through the first six months of the year. In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($2.537 billion), food/beverage ($2.012 billion) and gas stations ($1.516 billion) contributed the most to year-to-date sales. In percentage terms, gas stations, electronics/appliances, and building materials/garden supplies recorded year-to-date declines. The largest year-to-date increases were reported in health/personal care as well as among miscellaneous retail categories and motor vehicle, parts.
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 June 2023, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 1.1% over the previous month to $3.73 billion, or 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)
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