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November 24, 2023RETAIL TRADE, SEPTEMBER 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted September 2023 vs August 2023)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 0.8% to $1,776 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.6% to $66.5 billion. Eight provinces reported monthly increases in retail trade led by Saskatchewan. Two provinces reported declines led by New Brunswick.
Year over year (September 2023 vs September 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 5.2% over the last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 2.7%. All provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain, and Newfoundland and Labrador the smallest increase.
Year to date (January-September 2023September vs January-August 2022)
Nova Scotia retail trade was up 4.0% 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.
Nova Scotia Retail Categories
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($3.848 billion), food/beverage ($3.155 billion), gas stations ($2.308 billion) and general merchandise stores ($2.014 billion) contributed the most to year-to-date sales. The largest year-to-date increases in percentage terms were reported in health/personal care and miscellaneous retail categories. Gas stations, electronics/appliances, and building materials/garden supplies, and furniture stores recorded 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 September 2023, Canada's ecommerce sales decreased 0.6% over the previous month to $3.82 billion, or to 5.8% 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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