indicatorThe Twenty-Four

Agriculture drives up exports in October

Alberta’s international merchandise exports expanded by 6.2 per cent ($459.6 million) in October

By ATB Economics 8 December 2020 1 min read

After losing some ground in September, Alberta’s international merchandise exports expanded by 6.2 per cent ($459.6 million) in October. Despite the improvement, monthly exports were 19.5 per cent ($1.9 billion) below where they were a year earlier.

The cumulative loss so far in 2020 was $23.9 billion in sales compared to the same 10-month period in 2019.

Monthly export values were up across all major product groups except for metal and non-metallic mineral products.

The growth in October was led by surging agricultural exports, which were up by 30.0 per cent ($189.9 million) compared to September. Agricultural exports were, moreover, one of only three major products groups with year-to-date sales above there they were in 2019.

Energy products represented just under two-thirds of Alberta’s total merchandise exports in October, up by 2.4 per cent ($114.7 million) compared to September. Energy exports, however, were still off by 29.5 per cent ($2.1 billion) compared to October 2019.

The decline in energy sales in the wake of the oil price crash and pandemic represents 92.3 per cent of the year-to-date loss in Alberta.

Nationally, exports increased for a sixth consecutive month, rising by 1.7 per cent ($709.5 million).

ANSWER to Monday's trivia question: Which province had the highest participation rate in November? Alberta. Alberta’s participation rate in November was 69.5 per cent compared to a national average of 65.1 per cent. Saskatchewan had the second highest rate at 67.3 per cent.

Today’s question: Today’s question: What was Alberta's share of Canada’s international energy exports in October?

The growth in October was led by surging agricultural exports

The growth in October was led by surging agricultural exports


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