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April 25, 2025RETAIL TRADE, FEBRUARY 2025 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, February 2025 vs January 2025)
In Nova Scotia retail trade decreased 2.6% to $1,850 million. Nationally, retail trade decreased 0.4% to $69.3 billion. Seven provinces, led by Nova Scotia, reported declines in retail trade. Manitoba reported the largest growth.
Year over year (February 2025 vs February 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.2% in February compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 4.7% year-over-year. All provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Nova Scotia reported the slowest growth.
Year to date (January-February 2025 vs January-February 2024)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.7% in January-February compared to the same period last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 5.0% year-to-date. All provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island reported the slowest growth.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($772 million), food/beverage ($627 million), gas stations ($500 million) and general merchandise stores ($405 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales in January-February 2025.
The largest increases in percentage terms were reported in clothing, miscellaneous retail, and appliances/electronics. Building materials/garden supply reported the only decline, while electronics/appliances reported the slowest sales growth in January 2025 compared with the same period in the previous year.
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 February 2025, Canada's ecommerce sales decreased another 0.3% compared to the previous month, declining to $4.34 billion, or to 6.3% 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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