Government of Nova Scotia, Canada

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For additional information relating to this article, please contact:

Thomas StorringDirector – Economics and Statistics
Tel: 902-424-2410Email: thomas.storring@novascotia.ca

December 20, 2024
RETAIL TRADE OCTOBER 2024

Monthly (seasonally adjusted,  October 2024 vs September 2024)

In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.0% to $1,827 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.6% to $67.6 billion. Led by Manitoba, 7 of the provinces reported growth in retail trade, and led by Prince Edward Island, the other 3 reported declining retail sales.

 

Year over year (October 2024 vs October 2023)

Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.0% in October compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 1.5% year-over-year. Nine provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Saskatchewan  reported the only year-over-year decline.

Year-to-date (January-October 2024 vs January-October 2023)

Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.9% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade was up 1.0%. 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 ($4,579 million), food/beverage ($3,407 million), gas stations ($2,649 million) and general merchandise stores ($2,380 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail year-to-date sales.  

The largest year-to-date increases in percentage terms were reported in general merchandise stores and gas stations.  Health/personal care stores and  sports, books, hobbies, music 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 October 2024, Canada's ecommerce sales increased 1.5% compared to the previous month, increasing to $4.22 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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