Monthly Survey of Manufacturing, December 2024
Released: 2025-02-14
Manufacturing sales increased for the third consecutive month, rising 0.3% to $71.4 billion in December, with gains in 12 of 21 subsectors. Higher sales of petroleum and coal (+3.4%), food products (+1.9%), and primary metals (+3.9%) were partially offset by a 5.0% decline in motor vehicle sales. Compared to December 2023, total sales were 0.3% higher.
On a quarterly basis, sales rose 1.6% to $213.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, following four consecutive quarterly declines. The transportation equipment (+3.3%) and wood product (+10.0%) subsectors contributed the most to the quarterly increase.
In constant dollars, sales declined 0.8% in December, while the Industrial Product Price Index edged up 0.2%.
Chart 1
Manufacturing sales
Petroleum and coal manufacturing leads monthly increase
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector rose 3.4% to $8.2 billion in December, marking the third consecutive monthly increase. The gain in December was entirely price-driven, as petroleum product sales in constant dollars declined 0.9% in the month.
Sales of food products increased 1.9% to $12.9 billion in December, the highest level since September 2023. Higher prices and demand were responsible for the gain in December 2024, with food sales in constant dollars rising 1.0% in the month. Strong seasonal sales in several food product industry groups, including grain and oilseed as well as meat products, contributed to the gain. On a quarterly basis, food product sales in current dollars rose 0.4% to $38.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking the third consecutive quarterly gain.
Following three consecutive monthly increases, motor vehicle sales declined 5.0% to $4.5 billion in December, mainly due to planned winter shutdowns at several auto assembly plants. On a quarterly basis, sales in the motor vehicle industry group posted their first increase since the third quarter of 2023, rising 5.0% to $13.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Sales increase in six provinces, led by Quebec and Alberta
Sales rose in six provinces in December, with Quebec and Alberta posting the largest increases. These increases were partially offset by Ontario, which recorded the largest decline.
In Quebec, sales increased 2.2% to $18.8 billion in December, driven by higher sales in 11 of 21 subsectors, led by the primary metal (+8.5%) and petroleum and coal product subsectors. Sales of non-ferrous metal (except aluminum) production and processing were the key drivers in the primary metal subsector. The increases were partially offset by a decline in sales of electrical equipment, appliances and components. Year over year, total sales in Quebec were up 3.8% in December, while they increased 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Sales in Alberta rose 2.5% to $8.7 billion in December, the highest level since February 2024. The increase was attributable to higher sales of chemicals (+5.7%), food products (+3.4%), as well as fabricated metals (+10.9%). Year over year, total sales in Alberta were up 0.4% in December, while they increased 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
In Ontario, sales fell 1.3% to $30.6 billion in December, mainly on lower sales of transportation equipment (-5.4%). In the transportation equipment subsector, motor vehicle sales decreased 7.5% in December, the largest monthly decline since March 2024. Planned shutdowns at several major auto assembly plants were mainly responsible for the decrease. Sales of motor vehicle parts were down 1.8% in December. Despite the monthly decline, Ontario's total sales increased 1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024 after four consecutive quarterly declines.
Total inventories are unchanged
Total inventories held steady at $119.8 billion in December. A 1.1% increase in goods in process inventories offset decreases in inventories of finished products (-0.9%) and raw materials (-0.1%). Among subsectors, the primary metal (-2.7%) and food product (-2.6%) subsectors saw the largest declines, while chemical product inventories posted the biggest gain (+3.5%).
Chart 2
Inventory levels unchanged in December
The inventory-to-sales ratio was unchanged at 1.68 in December. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
Chart 3
The inventory-to-sales ratio unchanged in December
Chart 4
Unfilled orders increase in December
Capacity utilization rate declines
The capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector decreased from 79.9% in November to 76.0% in December. The declines were most noticeable in the transportation equipment (-7.0 percentage points), food (-3.7 percentage points), and primary metal (-4.3 percentage points) subsectors. The capacity utilization rate of beverage and tobacco manufacturing increased 2.5 percentage points in December.
Chart 5
Capacity utilization rate decreases in December
Manufacturing: Year in review, 2024
Manufacturing activities in 2024 were marked by unpredictability and numerous internal and external challenges including high interest rates, depreciation of the Canadian dollar, as well as economic uncertainty over global tensions.
Total sales in current dollars decreased 2.1% to $847.2 billion in 2024, following three consecutive yearly increases. The decline was mainly attributable to lower sales of transportation equipment (-5.1%) and petroleum and coal products (-4.9%). Meanwhile, wood product sales (+3.4%) increased the most. In the transportation equipment subsector, the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industry groups were the top contributors to the yearly decline, while aerospace products and parts recorded the highest sales among all industry groups.
On a constant dollar basis, total sales decreased 2.8% to $660.3 billion in 2024, primarily driven by lower sales of motor vehicles (-12.4%) and motor vehicle parts (-10.4%).
Motor vehicle industry group leads yearly decline in 2024
The motor vehicle industry group contributed the most to the decline in total sales in 2024, as its sales fell 11.1% to $55.1 billion. Sales of motor vehicle parts declined 9.4% to $33.7 billion. While the supply of semiconductors and other raw materials improved in 2024, the auto industry faced weak global demand and economic uncertainty. In addition, several major auto assembly plants underwent modernization and retooling to produce electric vehicles, impacting their production for periods ranging from several months to an entire year. Exports of motor vehicles and parts were down 6.4% in 2024.
Despite a weakened auto industry, within the transportation equipment subsector, the aerospace product and parts industry group experienced significant growth in 2024, with production surging 17.7% to a record-high $31.1 billion. Strong demand for business and commercial aircraft, along with aerospace engines and parts, drove this expansion. Additionally, total exports of aircraft, aircraft engines and aircraft parts increased 10.7% during the year.
Total inventories decrease
Following three consecutive annual increases, year-end inventory levels in current dollars declined 2.1% to $119.8 billion in 2024, entirely on lower year-end inventories of non-durable goods (-5.6%). Durable goods inventories edged up 0.1% to $74.9 billion during the same period. The decline in year-end inventories was driven by lower raw materials (-5.4%) and finished products (-3.6%). Year-end goods in process inventories rose 5.5% to $32.4 billion in 2024. Among subsectors, 13 of 21 subsectors posted lower year-end inventories in 2024, with the largest declines observed in the petroleum and coal (-9.7%) and chemical (-7.7%) product subsectors.
Year-end unfilled orders rose 2.2% to $106.8 billion in 2024, largely due to a 19.2% gain in unfilled orders of machinery.
The United States is important for Canadian manufactured products, serving as Canada's largest export market. In 2024, Canadian manufacturers sold about half of their products to foreign customers, with roughly 80% of those exports going to the United States. The transportation equipment and food product subsectors were the top exporters. Notably, in 2024, Canadian transportation equipment manufacturers sold approximately two-thirds of their products to the United States, which accounted for roughly one quarter of total exports of manufactured products to the United States.
Did you know we have a mobile app?
Download our mobile app and get timely access to data at your fingertips! The StatsCAN app is available for free on the App Store and on Google Play.
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 Monthly Survey of Manufacturing is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:
Note to readers
Monthly data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise specified.
Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Trend-cycle estimates are included in selected charts as a complement to the seasonally adjusted series. These data represent a smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted time series and provide information on longer-term movements, including changes in direction underlying the series. For information on trend-cycle data, see Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.
Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially for reference months near the end of the series or during periods of economic disruption.
Non-durable goods industries include food; beverage and tobacco products; textile mills; textile product mills; apparel; leather and allied products; paper; printing and related support activities; petroleum and coal products; chemicals; and plastics and rubber products.
Durable goods industries include wood products; non-metallic mineral products; primary metals; fabricated metal products; machinery; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances and components; transportation equipment; furniture and related products; and miscellaneous manufacturing.
Production-based industries
For the aerospace and shipbuilding industry groups, the value of production is used instead of the value of sales of goods manufactured. The value of production is calculated by adjusting monthly sales of goods manufactured by the monthly change in inventories of goods in process and finished products manufactured. The value of production is used because of the extended period of time that it normally takes to manufacture products in these industries.
Unfilled orders are a stock of orders that will contribute to future sales, assuming that the orders are not cancelled.
New orders are those received whether sold in the current month or not. New orders are measured as the sum of sales for the current month plus the change in unfilled orders from the previous month to the current month.
Manufacturers reporting sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars
Some Canadian manufacturers report sales, inventories and unfilled orders in US dollars. These data are then converted to Canadian dollars as part of the data production cycle.
For sales, based on the assumption that they occur throughout the month, the average monthly exchange rate for the reference month established by the Bank of Canada is used for the conversion. The monthly average exchange rate is available in table 33-10-0163-01. Inventories and unfilled orders are reported at the end of the reference period. For most respondents, the daily average exchange rate on the last working day of the month is used for the conversion of these variables.
However, some manufacturers choose to report their data as of a day other than the last working day of the month. In these instances, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent is used. Note that because of exchange rate fluctuations, the daily average exchange rate on the day selected by the respondent can differ from both the exchange rate on the last working day of the month and the monthly average exchange rate. Daily average exchange rate data are available in table 33-10-0036-01.
Revision policy
Each month, the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing releases preliminary data for the reference month and revised data for the previous three months. Revisions are made to reflect new information provided by respondents and updates to administrative data.
Once a year, a revision project is undertaken to revise multiple years of data.
Real-time data tables
Real-time data tables 16-10-0118-01, 16-10-0119-01, 16-10-0014-01 and 16-10-0015-01 will be updated on February 24.
Next release
Data from the Monthly Survey of Manufacturing for January 2025 will be released on March 14.
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).
- Date modified: