National culture indicators, fourth quarter 2021
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Released: 2022-04-14
Real gross domestic product (corrected for price changes) for the culture and sport sectors in Canada was up for the sixth consecutive quarter, increasing 3.5% to $14.0 billion in the fourth quarter, following a 3.4% increase in the third quarter.
The second half of 2021 fared quite well as the economy largely re-opened after tighter restrictions in the first half of the year. By comparison, real gross domestic product (GDP) for the total economy rose 1.6% during the fourth quarter of 2021.
On a nominal basis, GDP for the overall culture and sport sectors increased 4.1% to $16.1 billion, reflecting rising prices for both goods and services. The total number of jobs supporting culture and sport increased 4.4% to 753,928.
Culture and sport nominal gross domestic product in Canada increases steadily, above pre-pandemic levels
Nominal GDP exclusively for the culture sector was up for the sixth consecutive quarter, increasing 3.9% to $14.6 billion in the fourth quarter, bringing GDP 1.3% above pre-COVID levels (fourth quarter 2019) for the first time. Steady growth throughout 2021 helped buoy recovery, with 6 out of 9 culture domains at or above pre-pandemic levels.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, all culture domains posted gains in GDP. Most notably, the live performance domain was up 30.4%, followed by heritage and libraries (+10.8%).
The live performance domain posted two consecutive quarterly increases, as restrictions loosened and people felt more comfortable attending large indoor and outdoor gatherings in the second half of 2021. Heritage and libraries' GDP increased as well in the fourth quarter, driven mainly by the natural and cultural heritage subdomains. Despite strong quarterly growth in the heritage and libraries and live performance domains, they are still below pre-pandemic levels.
Nominal GDP for the sport sector increased 6.0% to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, the fifth increase in the last six quarters, with most of the growth coming from the organized sport subdomain.
Chart 1
Culture and sport nominal gross domestic product (GDP), quarterly
Continued job gains seen in Canada's culture and sport sectors
Employment attributable to culture and sport was up during the fourth quarter, the fifth increase in the last six quarters, but still down 3.2% compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Culture sector jobs were up 3.8% to 661,479 in the fourth quarter, with employment up in all 9 culture domains. Growth was driven mainly by an increase in jobs in the live performance domain (+11.9% or +5,423 jobs), as these areas have staffed up to handle increased in-person attendance, albeit at a slower pace than in the third quarter. Audio-visual and interactive media also had a strong fourth quarter, with big gains in the film and video and interactive media subdomains.
Sport jobs increased for three consecutive quarters, up 8.5% in the fourth quarter to 92,449, led mainly by increases in the organized sport domain as there were fewer restrictions on fan attendance for the majority of the quarter.
Chart 2
Change in jobs by culture domain, fourth quarter of 2021
Upcoming launch of the National Culture Indicators dashboard
In July 2022, Statistics Canada will launch the National Culture Indicators dashboard. This interactive tool will provide current and historical quarterly data on culture and sport GDP, output and jobs. The tool will allow users to compare quarterly data on culture and sport, in Canada, by domains and subdomains.
Note to readers
The National Culture Indicators are an extension of the Provincial and Territorial Culture Satellite Account and the Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators.
Data
Data are available for gross domestic product (GDP) in both nominal, basic prices and constant prices (2012 prices).
Data on real GDP (corrected for prices changes) are provided as a means to examine economic growth within culture and sport, as well as comparisons with other sectors.
Unless otherwise stated, GDP in this release refers to nominal GDP, at basic prices.
Growth rates in this release are represented as the percentage change in the series from one quarter to the next.
Data have been seasonally adjusted. All data are based on the product perspective.
Definitions
Culture GDP is the economic value added associated with culture activities. This is the value added related to the production of culture goods and services across the economy, regardless of the producing industry.
Culture jobs are the number of jobs that are related to the production of culture goods and services.
Sport GDP is the economic value added associated with sport activities. This is the value added related to the production of sport goods and services across the economy, regardless of the producing industry.
Sport jobs are the number of jobs that are related to the production of sport goods and services.
Current revisions
Data for the fourth quarter of 2021 have been released along with revised data for the first, second and third quarters of 2021.
Planned revision of the National Culture Indicators
Following the upcoming release of the annual Provincial and Territorial Culture Indicators (PTCI), scheduled for June 2, 2022, the sum of four quarters in a given year in the National Culture Indicators will no longer equal the annual data in the PTCI. The two accounts will be brought back in line when annual revisions are incorporated with the first quarter National Culture Indicators release scheduled for July 8, 2022.
Products
The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.
The Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (13-605-X) is available.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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