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Canada's merchandise exports fell 3.4% and imports decreased 2.2% in July. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with the world expanded from $1.9 billion in June to $2.3 billion in July.
Exports fell to $37.7 billion, as volumes decreased 2.0%. Energy products were the main contributor to the fall in exports.
Imports decreased to $40.1 billion, mainly due to lower imports of energy products as well as machinery and equipment. Both volumes (-1.2%) and prices (-1.0%) declined.
Exports to the United States fell 5.0% to $27.4 billion in July and imports declined 2.1% to $25.3 billion. Consequently, Canada's trade surplus with the United States decreased from $3.0 billion in June to $2.1 billion in July, the smallest trade surplus since October 2010.
Imports from countries other than the United States decreased 2.4% to $14.7 billion while exports rose 1.2% to $10.3 billion. As a result, Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States narrowed from $4.9 billion in June to $4.4 billion in July.
Note to readers
Merchandise trade is one component of Canada's international balance of payments (BOP), which also includes trade in services, investment income, current transfers as well as capital and financial flows.
International merchandise trade data by country are available on both a BOP and a customs basis for the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. Trade data for all other individual countries are available on a customs basis only. BOP data are derived from customs data by making adjustments for factors such as valuation, coverage, timing and residency. These adjustments are made to conform to the concepts and definitions of the Canadian System of National Accounts.
Data in this release are on a BOP basis, seasonally adjusted and in current dollars. Constant dollars are calculated using the Laspeyres volume formula.
For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonal adjustment and identifying economic trends.
New aggregation structure
Statistics Canada will introduce the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) for merchandise import and export statistics. The new structure will replace the classification structures known as the summary import groups (SIG) and the summary export groups (SEG) and the higher level aggregations (major groups, subsectors, sectors and sections) that have been in use for several decades.
Revised data based on NAPCS for the reference period of January 1988 to August 2012 will be disseminated on October 18.
The first regular release of data based on NAPCS will be on November 8 for the September reference month.
Readers interested in this upcoming change can find more detailed information on our web page dedicated to classification consultation and notification.
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