Canada at a Glance, 2022
Economy

Gross domestic product… in brief

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a broad measure of a country’s economic activity based on the total cash value of all goods and services produced over a specific period of time.

Tracked over multiple years, GDP can show whether a country’s economy is rising or falling. Rising GDP is a sign of good economic health; falling GDP indicates that the country’s economy is not working at full capacity or may be in a recession.Note

Watch our video to learn more on GDP.


Table 20
Gross domestic product at basic prices, by industry, Canada
Table summary
This table displays the results of Gross domestic product at basic prices 2019, 2020 and 2021, calculated using millions of 2012 chained dollars units of measure (appearing as column headers).
2019 2020 2021
millions of 2012 chained dollars
All industries 1,986,183 1,884,083 1,977,193
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 41,246 42,619 39,847
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction 154,259 142,560 151,734
Utilities 43,191 42,148 41,560
Construction 143,672 140,588 148,795
Manufacturing 198,175 178,981 186,947
Wholesale trade 103,232 100,685 105,979
Retail trade 100,074 96,759 103,879
Transportation and warehousing 88,937 71,620 72,869
Information and cultural industries 67,604 66,214 68,708
Finance and insurance 137,115 143,404 149,208
Real estate and rental and leasing 253,457 257,129 266,171
Professional, scientific and technical services 122,362 119,080 127,345
Management of companies and enterprises 5,331 3,778 2,775
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services 52,364 45,689 47,443
Educational services 105,027 98,782 105,222
Health care and social assistance 138,956 132,660 143,652
Arts, entertainment and recreation 15,703 9,260 9,665
Accommodation and food services 43,784 29,122 33,477
Other services 38,932 32,911 35,652
Public administration 133,486 131,613 137,485

Did you know?

  • Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped from just over $1,986 billion in 2019 to a little over $1,884 billion in 2020. In 2021, we saw an increase in GDP to just over $1,977 billion, which is still lower than the level recorded in 2019.

Chart 27 Real gross domestic product at market prices

Data table for Chart 27 
Data table for chart 27
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for chart 27 Annual change, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Annual change
percent
1994 4.5
1995 2.7
1996 1.6
1997 4.3
1998 3.9
1999 5.2
2000 5.2
2001 1.8
2002 3.0
2003 1.8
2004 3.1
2005 3.2
2006 2.6
2007 2.1
2008 1.0
2009 -2.9
2010 3.1
2011 3.1
2012 1.8
2013 2.3
2014 2.9
2015 0.7
2016 1.0
2017 3.0
2018 2.8
2019 1.9
2020 -5.2
2021 4.5

Table 21
Retail sales, by industry, Canada
Table summary
This table displays the results of Retail sales. The information is grouped by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) (appearing as row headers), 2019, 2020 and 2021, calculated using millions of dollars units of measure (appearing as column headers).
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2019 2020 2021
millions of dollars
Retail Trade 616,544 608,330 680,101
Motor vehicle and parts dealers 168,004 154,651 183,981
New car dealers 134,347 119,878 142,764
Used car dealers 12,611 12,026 15,340
Other motor vehicle dealers 10,598 11,834 13,561
Automotive parts, accessories and tire stores 10,448 10,913 12,315
Furniture stores 12,036 11,953 13,880
Home furnishings stores 7,034 6,446 7,643
Electronics and appliance stores 13,684 14,652 15,281
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers 38,066 42,731 48,362
Food and beverage stores 129,680 142,920 143,144
Supermarkets and other grocery(except convenience) stores 89,584 100,368 99,806
Beer wine and liquor stores 24,191 25,800 26,445
Health and personal care stores 48,366 49,136 52,525
Gasoline stations 63,062 51,187 63,650
Clothing and clothing accessories stores 35,228 25,770 31,062
Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores 12,253 11,799 13,330
General merchandise stores 72,298 78,682 85,487
Miscellaneous store retailers 16,832 18,403 21,756

Did you know?

  • Retail e-commerce sales totalled $46.4 billion in 2021.
  • The increase in the share of retail e-commerce sales was larger in 2020 and 2021, with shares totalling 6.2% and 6.5%, respectively. By comparison, shares varied between 2.6%  and 3.6% in the three years before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
  • Sales by e-commerce and mail order businesses rose from $8.9 billion in 2016 to $28.6 billion in 2021.

To learn more

Economic accounts statistics (statcan.gc.ca)

 
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