By: Lynn Desjardins
Canada’s government statistics agency estimates that in the first three months of 2021, the country’s economic activity grew at an annual rate of 6.5 per cent. That was down from an annualized rate of 9.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2020.
The preliminary estimate suggests that the real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.4 per cent in February 2021 after growing 0.7 per cent in the month before. This represented a 10th consecutive monthly increase that followed the steepest drops on record observed at the beginning of the pandemic in March and April 2020. However, total economic activity was about two percent below what it was in February 2020, pre-pandemic.
Industries that produced services were up 0.6 per cent. At the same time, goods-producing industries declined by 0.2 per cent for the first time since April 2020.
Early figures suggest there was about a 0.9 per cent increase in real GDP for March 2021. Manufacturing, retail trade, and finance and insurance did well, while mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction reduced some of the growth.
The figures are preliminary and will be revised on June 1, 2021.
Canada’s economic growth slowed in first quarter of 2021
