| Economy | Canada |
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Economy - overview:
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As an affluent, high-tech industrial society in the trillion-dollar class, Canada resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and affluent living standards. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US, its principle trading partner. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs nearly 80% of Canadian exports each year. Canada is the US's largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. Given its great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada has enjoyed solid economic growth, and prudent fiscal management has produced consecutive balanced budgets from 1997 to 2007. In 2008, growth slowed sharply as a result of the global economic downturn, US housing slump, plunging auto sector demand, and a drop in world commodity prices. Public finances, too, are set to deteriorate for the first time in a decade. Tight global credit conditions have further restrained business and housing investment, despite the conservative lending practices and strong capitalization that made Canada's major banks among the most stable in the world. |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$1.307 trillion (2008 est.)
$1.299 trillion (2007)
$1.265 trillion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$39,300 (2008 est.)
$39,400 (2007 est.)
$38,700 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$1.564 trillion (2008 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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0.6% (2008 est.)
2.7% (2007 est.)
3.1% (2006 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 2%
industry: 28.4%
services: 69.6% (2008 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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22.6% of GDP (2008 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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10.8%; note - this figure is the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO), a calculation that results in higher figures than found in many comparable economies; Canada does not have an official poverty line (2005) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 24.8% (2000) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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32.1 (2005) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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1% (January 2009 est.) |
Central bank discount rate:
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3.5% (January 2009) |
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
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6.1% (31 December 2007) |
Stock of money:
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$391.6 billion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of money - per capita:
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11,695 USD per capita |
Stock of quasi money:
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$1.381 trillion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of quasi money - per capita:
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41,240 USD per capita |
Stock of domestic credit:
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$2.382 trillion (31 December 2007) |
Stock of domestic credit - per capita:
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71,132 USD per capita |
Labor force:
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18.18 million (2008 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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54.29 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 2%, manufacturing 13%, construction 6%, services 76%, other 3% (2006) |
Unemployment rate:
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6.1% (2008 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues: $608.3 billion
expenditures: $606 billion (2008 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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18,166 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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62.3% of GDP (2008 est.) |
Industries:
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transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas |
Industrial production growth rate:
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-1% (2008 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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612.6 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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18,294 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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530 billion kWh (2006 est.) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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15,827 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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50.12 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - imports:
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19.66 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Oil - production:
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3.425 million bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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102,278 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
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2.371 million bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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25.84 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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2.225 million bbl/day (2005) |
Oil - imports:
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1.229 million bbl/day (2005) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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178.6 billion bbl
note: includes oil sands (1 January 2008 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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187 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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5,585 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
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92.9 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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2,775 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
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107.3 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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13.2 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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1.648 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy products; forest products; fish |
Current account balance:
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$12.82 billion (2008 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
|
383 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$461.8 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
Exports per capita:
|
13,791 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment; chemicals, plastics, fertilizers; wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, natural gas, electricity, aluminum |
Exports - partners:
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US 78.9%, UK 2.8%, China 2.1% (2007) |
Imports:
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$436.7 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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13,041 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, crude oil, chemicals, electricity, durable consumer goods |
Imports - partners:
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US 54.1%, China 9.4%, Mexico 4.2% (2007) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$41.08 billion (2007 est.) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
|
1,227 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$758.6 billion (30 June 2007) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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22,654 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$586.6 billion (2008 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home - per capita:
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17,518 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$547.2 billion (2008 est.) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad - per capita:
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16,341 USD per capita |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$2.187 trillion (31 December 2007) |
Market value of publicly traded shares - per capita:
|
65,309 USD per capita |
Economic aid - donor:
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ODA, $3.9 billion (2007) |
Economic aid - recipient:
|
void |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
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void |
Currency (code):
|
Canadian dollar (CAD) |
Exchange rates:
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Canadian dollars (CAD) per US dollar - 1.0364 (2008 est.), 1.0724 (2007), 1.1334 (2006), 1.2118 (2005), 1.301 (2004) |
Fiscal year:
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1 April - 31 March |
|
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