Canadian retail sales see highest gains since 2002
By CO Staff @canadaone | April 11, 2006
In 2005 Canadian retailers registered their highest year-over-year increase in retail sales since 2002, with a total spending of $369.2 billion. These gains were led by a strong increase in sales of automotive fuels, oils and additives as well as hardware, lawn and garden products.
As gas prices soared in 2005 about 9 cents of every retail dollar was spent on automotive fuels, oils and additives, compared to just 6 cents in 1998.
In the realm of motor vehicle sales, service and parts the sale of new vehicles accounted for 55% of total sales while the sale of used vehicles rose by only 1.8%. Revenues from automotive parts and accessories increased by 9.5%.
Here are some of the key numbers from Statistics Canada's Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey, fourth quarter 2005 and annual 2005.
Table 1: Consumer spending breakdown by category
| Commodity | % spending |
| Food & beverages | 22% |
| Motor vehicles, parts and services | 22% |
| Automotive fuels, oils and additives | 9% |
| Furniture, home furnishings and electronics | 9% |
| Clothing, footwear and accessories | 8% |
| Health and personal care products | 8% |
| Hardware, lawn and garden products | 7% |
Table 2: Sales increases by commodity
| Commodity | % change since 2004 | Total spent in 2005 |
| Hardware and home renovation products | +8.2% | $19.9 billion |
| Lawn and garden products | +10.2% | $5.3 billion |
| Furniture, home furnishings and electronics | +5.4% | $33.3 billion |
| - home furnishings | +6.1% | |
| - household appliances | +6.2% | |
| - home electronics | +4.5% | |
| Motor vehicle, parts and services | +5.5% | $80.8 billion |
| Food & beverages | +5.5% | |
| Clothing, footwear and accessories | +4.0% | $30.4 billion |
| Health and personal care products | +5.2% | |
| - prescription drugs | +7.1% | |
| - over-the-counter drugs and vitamins | +2.9% |
Table 3: Annual sales by commodity, all retail stores
| Commodity | 2003 $ millions | 2004 $ millions | 2005 $ millions | 2003 to 2004 % change |
| Food and beverages | 73,284 | 76,869 | 81,071 | 4.9 |
| Health and personal care products | 27,154 | 29,283 | 30,815 | 7.8 |
| Clothing, footwear and accessories | 28,156 | 29,206 | 30,360 | 3.7 |
| Furniture, home furnishings and electronics | 29,874 | 31,605 | 33,325 | 5.8 |
| Motor vehicles, parts and services | 76,271 | 76,599 | 80,784 | 0.4 |
| Automotive fuels, oils and additives | 25,325 | 29,016 | 34,164 | 14.6 |
| Housewares | 7,039 | 7,287 | 7,503 | 3.5 |
| Hardware, lawn and garden products | 20,998 | 23,189 | 25,190 | 10.4 |
| Sporting and leisure goods | 12,038 | 12,292 | 12,830 | 2.1 |
| All other goods and services | 31,889 | 32,357 | 33,133 | 1.5 |
| Total | 332,027 | 347,704 | 369,175 | 4.7 |
Source: Statistics Canada www.statscan.ca
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