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  The Canadian Economy (Updated June 2008)

Do you have any clear idea of what Canada's economy looks like? In terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) what are the percentages from oil and gas, forestry, financial, manufacturing etc.?

What portion of Canadian GDP do imports and exports make up? What products does Canada Import and Export? Which countries are important trading partners of Canada?

The actual figures would likely surprise most Canadians.

What is Canada's GDP by industry or sector?

Canadian Economy Annual GDP broken out by Industry or Sector as of March 2008
Industry or Sector	Percentage	Billions of dollars
Finance and insurance, real estate and renting and leasing and management of companies and enterprises	20.0%	245.3
Manufacturing	14.1%	172.7
Health care and social assistance	6.3%	77.9
Construction industries	6.3%	77.7
Retail trade	6.1%	75.0
Wholesale trade	5.9%	72.4
Public administration	5.6%	69.1
Educational services	4.8%	58.7
Professional, scientific and technical services	4.7%	58.1
Mining and oil and gas extraction	4.7%	57.4
Transportation and warehousing	4.6%	56.6
Information and cultural industries	3.7%	44.8
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services	2.6%	32.5
Utilities	2.6%	31.6
Other services (except public administration)	2.6%	31.6
Accommodation and food services	2.3%	28.3
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	2.2%	26.5
Arts, entertainment and recreation	0.9%	11.6
Total	100.0%	1227.7

Source: Statistics Canada 
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/gdps04a.htm

From reading the financial news you may have been under the strong impression that Canada's GDP is now dominated by the commodities including particularly oil, gas, and various minerals. You may have also heard that manufacturing is no longer such an important component of Canada's economy. (And that therefore we should not worry much about all the manufacturing job losses that we hear about).

The actual figures show that "Finance, insurance and real estate and leasing and management of companies and enterprises" is by far the largest segment of Canada's economy.

Manufacturing, while it may be lower than in years past, is still a very large portion of GDP at over 14%. (We understand that manufacturing includes refining industries).

Amazingly enough, mining and oil and gas extraction shows up way down in the tenth row at only 4.7% of GDP. That seems shocking, the financial press constantly talks about the importance of the commodity sector to Canada's economy. Somehow I think this 4.7% understates the importance of this sector. But according to this GDP data it is far from being the most important sector.

Review the rest of the list and you will at least be more knowledgeable about the actual composition of the Canadian economy.

What does Canada Export?

Canadian Economy Goods Exports by Category	2007	$ Billions 2007
Other machinery and equipment	10.8%	50.2
Crude petroleum	8.9%	41.0
Passenger autos and chassis	8.6%	40.0
Metals and alloys	8.3%	38.2
Chemicals, plastics and fertilizers	7.2%	33.2
Other agricultural and fishing products	6.4%	29.7
Natural gas	6.1%	28.4
Motor vehicle parts	5.2%	24.3
Industrial and agricultural machinery	4.8%	22.3
Other energy products	4.8%	22.3
Aircraft and other transportation equipment	4.5%	20.9
Other consumer goods	4.0%	18.7
Other industrial goods and materials	4.0%	18.6
Metals and metal ores	3.1%	14.4
Trucks and other motor vehicles	2.8%	13.0
Lumber and sawmill products	2.7%	12.6
Newsprint and other paper and paperboard products	2.2%	10.0
Special transactions trade	1.8%	8.2
Wood pulp and other wood products	1.4%	6.7
Unallocated adjustments	1.2%	5.7
Wheat	1.0%	4.6
Total	100%	463.1

Source: Statistics Canada
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/gblec04.htm

Canada's exports amount to 38% of GDP.

The largest category is "other machinery and equipment" at almost 11% of the export value. This shows that manufacturing is a still a very important category. In fact when you add in passenger autos, motor vehicle parts, industrial and agricultural machinery, as well as aircraft and other transportation equipment, and trucks it appears that manufacturing is responsible for some 37% of goods exports. Meanwhile crude oil, natural gas other energy products amount to 20%.

To Which Countries Does Canada Export?

Canadian Economy Goods Exports by Country	2007	$ Billions 2007
United States	77%	356.1
Japan	2%	10.0
United Kingdom	3%	14.2
Other European Economic Community countries	5%	24.2
Other OECD	4%	19.7
Other countries	8%	38.9
Total	100%	463.1

Source, Statistics Canada
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/gblec02a.htm

We hear a lot of talk about global trade. We hear about China buying our commodities. But the statistics for 2007 show that the United States accounts for the vast majority of Canadian exports at 77%. The next closest single country shown is the United Kingdom at 3%. Things may be changing rapidly and China may quickly start to be an important  "customer" country for Canada. But the fact is, for now,  "it's the United States!, stupid".

What Does Canada Import?

Canadian Economy Goods Imports by Category	2007	$ Billions 2007
Other machinery and equipment	12.9%	53.5
Miscellaneous consumer goods	10.7%	44.2
Motor vehicle parts	8.7%	36.2
Industrial and agricultural machinery	7.6%	31.6
Chemicals and plastics	7.3%	30.2
Metals and metal ores	6.9%	28.8
Passenger autos and chassis	6.3%	26.3
Other industrial goods and materials	6.3%	26.2
Crude petroleum	5.7%	23.7
Other agricultural and fishing products	4.4%	18.3
Trucks and other motor vehicles	4.2%	17.5
Aircraft and other transportation equipment	4.0%	16.6
Office machines and equipment	3.6%	15.0
Other energy products	3.1%	12.9
Apparel and footwear	2.6%	10.6
Unallocated adjustments	2.0%	8.2
Fruits and vegetables	1.7%	7.2
Special transactions trade	1.3%	5.2
Forestry products	0.7%	3.0