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  The Canadian Economy

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 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 Annual GDP broken out by Industry or Sector as of August 2007
Industry or Sector	Percentage	Billions of dollars
Finance, insurance and real estate	19.6%	240.5
Manufacturing	15.2%	186.5
Construction	6.3%	77.6
Health care and social assistance	6.3%	76.8
Retail trade	6.0%	73.8
Wholesale trade	5.9%	72.2
Public administration	5.5%	67.4
Mining and oil and gas extraction	4.7%	58.1
Professional, scientific and technical services	4.7%	57.3
Education services	4.7%	57.3
Transportation and warehousing	4.7%	57.2
Information and cultural industries	3.6%	44.0
Administrative and waste management services	2.6%	31.8
Other services (except public administration)	2.5%	30.7
Utilities	2.5%	30.6
Accommodation and food services	2.3%	27.9
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	2.2%	26.5
Arts, entertainment and recreation	1.0%	11.7
Total	100.0%	1228.1

Source: Statistics Canada  http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/071031/d071031a.htm

From reading the financial news you may have been under the strong impression that Canada's GDP would be 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.

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

Manufacturing, while it may be lower than in decades past, is still a very large portion of GDP at over 15%.

Amazingly enough, mining and oil and gas extraction shows up way down in the eighth row at only 4.7%. 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. (Data from 2006 on the Toronto Stock Exchange indicate that oil, gas and mining made up 36% of the market value on the TSX while financials made up 24% at that time).

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 Goods Exports by Category	2006	$ Billions 2006
Other machinery and equipment	11.6%	53.0
Passenger autos and chassis	9.3%	42.4
Crude petroleum	8.5%	38.6
Metals and alloys	7.4%	33.5
Chemicals, plastics and fertilizers	6.8%	31.0
Natural gas	6.1%	27.8
Other agricultural and fishing products	6.1%	27.7
Motor vehicle parts	5.5%	25.2
Industrial and agricultural machinery	4.6%	21.1
Aircraft and other transportation equipment	4.5%	20.5
Other energy products	4.5%	20.4
Other industrial goods and materials	4.0%	18.1
Other consumer goods	3.9%	18.0
Lumber and sawmill products	3.6%	16.2
Trucks and other motor vehicles	3.3%	15.0
Metals and metal ores	2.5%	11.4
Newsprint and other paper and paperboard products	2.4%	11.1
Special transactions trade	1.9%	8.7
Unallocated adjustments	1.4%	6.5
Wood pulp and other wood products	1.3%	6.0
Wheat	0.8%	3.6
Total	100%	455.7

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

Canada's exports amount to 37% of GDP.

The largest category is "other machinery and equipment" at almost 12% 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 a staggering 45% of goods exports. Meanwhile crude oil and natural gas amount to 14.6%.

To Which Countries Does Canada Export?

Canadian Goods  Exports by Country	2006	$ Billions 2006
United States	79%	361.0
Japan	2%	10.5
United Kingdom	3%	11.6
Other European Economic Community countries	5%	21.3
Other OECD	4%	17.6
Other countries	7%	33.9
Total	100%	455.7

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 2006 show that the United States accounts for the vast majority of Canadian exports at 79%. The next closest 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 Goods Imports by Category	2006	$ Billions 2006
Other machinery and equipment	12.9%	52.1405
Miscellaneous consumer goods	10.4%	41.9847
Motor vehicle parts	9.4%	37.9283
Industrial and agricultural machinery	7.8%	31.7343
Chemicals and plastics	7.4%	29.7481
Metals and metal ores	7.0%	28.1254
Other industrial goods and materials	6.5%	26.1076
Passenger autos and chassis	6.2%	25.1038
Crude petroleum	5.6%	22.5123
Other agricultural and fishing products	4.1%	16.7537
Trucks and other motor vehicles	4.1%	16.7505
Office machines and equipment	3.9%	15.9631
Aircraft and other transportation equipment	3.7%	14.8002
Other energy products	3.0%	12.0661
Apparel and footwear	2.5%	10.0496
Unallocated adjustments	2.0%	8.0785
Fruits and vegetables	1.7%	6.6997
Special transactions trade	1.2%	4.7649
Forestry products	0.8%	3.0829
Total	100%	404.39

Source, Statistics Canada http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/gblec05.htm

Canada's imports in 2006 amounted to 33% of GDP.

From Which Countries Does the Canada Import Goods?

Canadian Goods  Imports by Country	2006	$ Billions 2006
Imports