Gross domestic product by industry, October 2023
Released: 2023-12-22
October 2023
0.0% 
(monthly change)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) was essentially unchanged for a third consecutive month in October. Services-producing industries edged up 0.1%, while goods-producing industries were essentially unchanged, with the 20 industrial sectors evenly split between increases and decreases.
Chart 1
Real gross domestic product essentially unchanged in October
Manufacturing sector contracts
Chart 2
Manufacturing sector contracts for the fourth time in five months in October
The manufacturing sector decreased for the fourth time in five months, contracting 0.6% in October, with declines for the month largely concentrated in durable goods manufacturing (-1.3%) as machinery manufacturing and transportation equipment manufacturing contributed the most to the decline. Non-durable goods manufacturing edged up 0.2% in October, representing a second consecutive increase.
Machinery manufacturing decreased 4.0% in October following three consecutive monthly increases. Other general-purpose machinery manufacturing (-5.1%) and metalwork machinery manufacturing (-7.3%) were among the largest contributors to the decline as activity related to large projects within these industries has been winding down. In addition, these October declines coincided with lower exports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts.
Transportation equipment manufacturing decreased 1.9% in October. The decrease was driven by a 9.9% contraction in other transportation equipment manufacturing, attributable to lower inventory formation, along with a 1.6% decline in motor vehicle parts reflecting in part a shutdown in a major auto assembly plant for retooling and coinciding with lower exports of motor vehicle parts to the United States.
Wholesale trade down for the second month in a row
Wholesale trade contracted 0.7% in October, decreasing for the second consecutive month, as all but one subsector contracted in the month. Machinery, equipment and supplies wholesaling contributed the most to the decline with a 1.8% contraction as a result of companies completing shipments throughout the third quarter. Building material and supplies wholesaling (+3.7%) was the only subsector that expanded in October, up as a result of higher lumber and millwork wholesaling. This was the subsector's third increase in four months as residential building construction (+1.2%) rose for a fourth consecutive month.
Retail trade up for a second consecutive month
Retail trade grew 1.2% in October, its largest growth rate since January 2023, with 9 of 12 subsectors contributing to the growth. Activity at clothing and clothing accessory stores (+3.2%) contributed the most to the growth, after two consecutive monthly declines. General merchandise stores (+2.5%) and health and personal care stores (+1.6%) were also large contributors to the increase in the month.
Non-store retailers (-0.7%) partially offset the gain in October with its fourth decline in five months.
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction grows on increased mining activity
Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction increased 1.0% in October, following two consecutive monthly declines, as all three subsectors grew.
Mining and quarrying (except oil and gas) expanded 2.4% in October, up for the third time in four months, as most mining industries posted gains.
Metal ore mining grew 2.0% in October, its largest growth rate since December 2022, as almost all industries posted gains. Copper, nickel, lead and zinc mining was the only exception, declining 6.9%, as production was impacted by maintenance activity.
Non-metallic mineral mining increased 3.5% in October 2023, driven largely by an increase in potash mining (+7.1%) as a mine that was temporarily shut down in September resumed activity.
Oil and gas extraction rose 0.4% in October following a 1.9% contraction in September as some facilities resumed production after undergoing maintenance activity in September.
Oil and gas extraction (except oil sands) grew 3.0% in October, largely offsetting September's decline, as both natural gas and crude petroleum extractions were up in October. Crude petroleum extraction bounced back following September's decline as an oil platform off Canada's North Atlantic coast resumed production following September's maintenance.
Oil sands extraction contracted 2.2% in October as turnarounds at some oil sands upgraders continued to impact the operations into the month.
Offices of real estate agents and brokers fall for a fourth consecutive month
Chart 3
Activity at the offices of real estate agents and brokers falls for a fourth consecutive month in October
Activity at the offices of real estate agents and brokers was down 6.8% in October, representing its fourth consecutive decline and the largest monthly decrease since April 2022, as activity in a majority of Canada's largest markets continued to cool off.
Legal services, which derive much of their activity from real estate transactions, decreased 0.3% in October 2023, down for the fourth consecutive month.
St. Lawrence Seaway strike impacts multiple transportation subsectors
The transportation and warehousing sector declined 0.2% in October as the St. Lawrence Seaway strike impacted activity in several transportation subsectors. Water transportation contracted 3.7% in October, down for the first time since the B.C. Port strike in July. The rail transportation subsector was relatively unchanged in October, with lower carloadings of wheat acting as a major drag on growth. Trucking transportation was down 0.9%, as many trucks poised to carry grain had to be sidelined during the strike.
Gains in air transportation (+1.9%) and pipeline transportation (+0.6%) tempered the sector's decline in October.
Chart 4
Main industrial sectors' contribution to the percent change in gross domestic product in October
Advance estimate for real gross domestic product by industry for November 2023
Advance information indicates that real GDP by industry increased 0.1% in November. Increases in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting were partially offset by decreases in retail trade. Owing to its preliminary nature, this estimate will be updated on January 31, 2024, with the release of the official GDP by industry data for November 2023.
Sustainable development goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
The release on gross domestic product by industry is an example of how Statistics Canada supports monitoring the progress of global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:
Note to readers
Monthly data on gross domestic product (GDP) by industry at basic prices are chained volume estimates with 2017 as the reference year. This means that the data for each industry and each aggregate are obtained from a chained volume index multiplied by the industry's value added in 2017. The monthly data are benchmarked to annually chained Fisher volume indexes of GDP obtained from the constant-price supply and use tables (SUT) up to the latest SUT year (2020).
For the period starting in January 2021, data are derived by chaining a fixed-weight Laspeyres volume index to the prior period. The fixed weights are 2020 industry prices.
This approach makes the monthly GDP by industry data more comparable with expenditure-based GDP data, which are chained quarterly.
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
An advance estimate of industrial production for November 2023 is available upon request.
For more information on GDP, see the video "What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?"
Revisions
Each month, newly available administrative and survey data from various industries in the economy are integrated, resulting in statistical revisions. Updated and revised administrative data (including taxation statistics), new information provided by respondents to industry surveys, and standard changes to seasonal adjustment calculations are incorporated with each release.
With this release of monthly GDP by industry, revisions have been made back to January 2023.
Real-time table
Real-time table 36-10-0491-01 will be updated on January 15, 2024.
Next release
Data on GDP by industry for November 2023 will be released on January 31, 2024.
Products
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 also available.
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.
Contact information
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