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November 22, 2024RETAIL TRADE SEPTEMBER 2024 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, September 2024 vs August 2024)
In Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 0.1% to $1,798 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.4% to $66.9 billion. Led by Alberta, half of the provinces reported growth in retail trade, and led by New Brunswick, the other half reported declining retail sales.
Year over year (September 2024 vs September 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.0% in September compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 0.8% year-over-year. Eight provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. British Columbia and Ontario reported the only declines.

Year-to-date (January-September 2024 vs January-September 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.7% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade was up 0.8%. Nine provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. British Columbia reported the only decline.

In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($4,067 million), food/beverage ($3,050 million), gas stations ($2,396 million) and general merchandise stores ($2,130 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-September 2024.

The largest year-to-date increases in percentage terms were reported in general merchandise stores and gas stations. Health/personal care stores and electronics and appliances stores recorded the largest year-to-date declines.

Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average (common for a smaller province) and have exceeded national retail sales growth.

E-Commerce
In September 2024, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 3.3% compared to the previous month, increasing to $4.14 billion, or 6.2% 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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