International comparisons

Macroeconomic indicators
Food processing industries

Macroeconomic indicators

Canada, surpassed only by the United States, was the second most productive economy among the G-7 countries in terms of output per person measured as valued added per person, expressed in purchasing power parities (PPP’s). PPP’s adjust for the international differences in price levels which are in addition to currency differences.

Canada's inflation, between 1995 and 2001, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was an average of 1.7% per year. It was smack-dab in the middle of those of the major industrialized countries, higher than that of Japan, France, and Germany but lower than the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy.

Canada is the smallest of the G-7 economies. Its GDP, in US dollars accounted for 3.4% of the G-7 total in 2001, about two thirds the size of Italy’s, and half the size of the United Kingdom’s the next largest members.

Among the major industrialized countries, Canada’s food and beverage sector is about half the size of Italy’s and a tenth the size of the food and beverage sector of the United States, the largest economy.

Canad’s food and beverage industry, as a percent of total GDP in 2001 was 1.9%, which is exactly the G-7 average.

Table 19. Macroeconomic indicators and the food and beverage sector's percentage of gross domestic product, G-7, Mexico and OECD, 2001

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Food processing industries

The Canadian food processing industry represented 1.9% of Canadian GDP in 2001, very similar to the share of the food sector in the other major industrialized countries. In 2001, the industry was 1.3% of the GDP in the United States, 2.0% in Italy, 2.1% in Germany 2.3% in the United Kingdom, 2.5% in France and 3.0% in Japan.

Among the G-7 countries, the Canadian food and beverage manufacturing sector at 1.9% of GDP is the smallest in terms of the total value of production ($43.4 billion US), value added ($12.8 billion US), and employment (238,000 workers) yet one of the more productive. Using PPP’s to eliminate price differences between countries; the Canadian food sector has the second highest value added per employee among the G-7 countries, second only to the United States and well ahead of the other G-7 countries.

Canada’s unit labour costs (labour cost per unit of output) were the second lowest among the G-7 countries, only Italy was lower and both Canada and Italy were considerably lower than the G-7 average. Japan was fifth, followed by France, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom .

Canadian food and beverage production, measured in terms of manufacturing shipments, have increased at an average annual rate of about 1% in the period 1990 to 2000 while some of the European countries have experienced even lower rates of growth and in some cases a reduction in food and beverage production.

Table 20. Unit labour cost in the food and beverage manufacturing sector, G-7 and Mexico, 2000