Canada's imports rose 6.0% to a record $51.7 billion in March. Exports also increased, up 3.7% to $47.6 billion. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $2.9 billion in February to a record $4.1 billion in March.
In real (or in volume) terms, imports rose 5.3% and exports were up 3.0%.
Imports reach record high
Imports rose 6.0% to a record high $51.7 billion in March, with increases in 9 of 11 sections. Motor vehicles and parts and also consumer goods were largely responsible for the increase. Year over year, imports were up 9.2%.
Imports of motor vehicles and parts rose 8.3% to $10.3 billion, the strongest increase since 2011. Passenger cars and light trucks contributed the most to the March increase, rising 13.0%. Higher than usual import levels for March were observed for light trucks. For the section as a whole, volumes rose 10.0%, while prices fell 1.5%.
Imports of consumer goods also contributed to the overall increase, up 7.7% to a record $11.0 billion. Higher imports of clothing, footwear and accessories (+20.8%) drove the widespread gain in the section, posting an atypical increase in March. Pharmaceutical and medicinal products (+13.2%) also contributed to the increase, mainly on higher imports from the United States and Belgium. For the section as a whole, volumes were up 6.0% and prices rose 1.6%.
This has been excerpted from a 3 May 2018 release by Statistics Canada.