Motor vehicle fuel sales, 2023

Released: 2024-09-13

Highlights

The demand for motor vehicle fuels continued to increase in 2023, with gross sales of gasoline in Canada rising 2.6% from 2022 to 43.6 billion litres. In 2023, fuel sales reached 97.3% of their 2019 level (44.8 billion litres), before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gasoline sales rebounding

Following a sharp decline in 2020, gross sales of gasoline began to rise in 2021 and into 2022 as pandemic-related restrictions were eased and eventually removed. The upward trajectory in sales continued through 2023, driven by several factors, including a rise in new motor vehicle registrations, a return to in-office work, and the resumption of a busy summer travel season.

Chart 1 
Gross sales of gasoline in Canada, 2003 to 2023

The number of new motor vehicle registrations—passenger cars, pickup trucks, multi-purpose vehicles and vans—increased by 13.3% from 2022 to over 1.7 million in 2023. A special Labour Force Survey study found the share of employed Canadians who usually work from home continued to decline in 2023, while those reporting a long car commute—60 minutes or longer—rose from 2021 to 2023. As well, according to the National Travel Survey, Canadians made over a quarter of a billion (285,058,000) domestic trips in 2023, 3.5% higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic level.

Some of these factors can also help explain why gross sales of gasoline in 2023 remained below their 2019 pre-pandemic level. For instance, registrations of new zero-emission vehicles, which averaged 2.0% of all new registrations from 2017 to 2019, had jumped to 11.0% of the total by 2023. In addition, while more Canadians returned to the workplace, many did so on a hybrid basis, continuing to work some days from home.

Fuel sales vary across Canada

In 2023, gross sales of gasoline edged down in British Columbia from 2022 (down 46.6 million litres or -0.9%) while increases were posted in Quebec (+440.3 million litres or +5.0%), Ontario (+389.1 million litres or +2.5%), and Alberta (+49.1 million litres or +0.8%). Together, the four largest provinces accounted for more than 80% of gross sales of gasoline in Canada.

A notable increase was also observed in Nova Scotia, with gross sales of gasoline growing 12.8% (+159.3 million litres) in 2023, the highest rate of increase observed across all provinces.

Other fuels

Net sales of both gasoline and diesel―on which road taxes were remitted― rose at a slower rate in 2023 compared with 2022. Net sales of gasoline increased 2.0% from 2022 to 41.5 billion litres in 2023, while net sales of diesel totalled 18.3 billion litres, little changed from 2022 (+1.1 million litres).

Net sales of liquefied petroleum gas increased 2.2% to 554.9 million litres in 2023. This type of gas is a popular fuel alternative for fleet vehicles, as it has a lower carbon footprint and costs less than gasoline and diesel.

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).