(OTTAWA) Canada’s trade surplus narrowed to 422 million in February as exports fell more than imports, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
This result compares with a revised surplus of 1.2 billion for the month of January, the federal agency said. The initial reading for the first month of the year had put the surplus at 1.9 billion.
“While actual trade flows were better than headlines suggested, they are consistent with a slowdown in activity in February,” economist Shelly Kaushik of BMO Capital Markets wrote in a report.
“Barring strong downward revisions, trade appears to be supporting gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter, although we expect momentum to wane in the coming quarters. »
In February, total exports fell 2.4% to $65.0 billion, with exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products down 5.4% and motor vehicles and parts for motor vehicles, 4.4%.
Meanwhile, total imports fell 1.3% to $64.6 billion in February. The decline came as imports of industrial machinery, equipment and parts fell 8.7% after hitting a record high in January.
Imports of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts fell 5.3% in February, while those of consumer goods rose 6.9%, partially offsetting the overall decline.
In volume terms, total exports in February fell 0.9%, while imports fell 0.8%.
Regionally, exports to countries other than the United States fell 7.2% in February, while imports from countries other than the United States rose 1.3%, Canada’s merchandise trade deficit with countries other than the United States at $8.9 billion. It had been 7.4 billion in January.
Meanwhile, exports to the United States fell 0.9%, while imports fell 2.8%, as Canada’s trade surplus with the United States reached $9.2 billion in February. , against 8.6 billion in January.
In a separate report, Statistics Canada said the country’s international trade deficit in services reached $2.2 billion in February, after settling at $2 billion in January, as services exports fell 1.3% to 14.0 billion and imports increased by 0.4% to 16.2 billion.
By combining the balance of trade in goods and that of services, Canada recorded a trade deficit with the world of 1.8 billion in February, whereas it had been 766 million in January.