Canada wholesale trade for June 2023
- Prior month 3.5% revised to 2.9%
- Wholesale sales (excluding certain categories) dropped -2.8% to $80.5 billion versus expectations for a decline of -4.2%
- May's increase was the largest since June 2020.
- Most subsectors reported a decline in sales.
- The drop in sales was primarily driven by the miscellaneous, machinery, equipment and supplies, and the motor vehicle subsectors.
- These subsectors had seen a sales surge in May.
- Year-over-year, wholesale sales (with exclusions) decreased by -0.4% compared to June 2022.
- Data on petroleum products and oilseed and grain remain available in tables but are excluded from monthly analysis until historical data is ready.
- Constant dollar sales (with exclusions) declined by -3.7% in June 2023.
Details show:
Miscellaneous subsector sales decreased by -7.3% to $10.3 billion in June.
- Four of seven industry groups saw a monthly increase.
- The agricultural products industry group's sales dropped -19.4% to $3.3 billion in June, affecting the overall subsector.
- This decline followed a sales surge in May due to confirmed deliveries and seasonal demand.
Machinery, equipment and supplies subsector sales fell -4.2% to $17.8 billion in June.
- This followed a significant rise in May, the largest since June 2020.
- Most industry groups reported a monthly sales decline in June 2023.
- The other machinery, equipment and supplies industry group saw a decrease of -8.9% to $4.2 billion.
- The construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery group dropped -6.0% to $5.9 billion.
- Both groups had a sales surge in May due to high equipment demand.
Motor vehicle, parts and accessories subsector sales went down 3.1% to $13.2 billion in June.
- The motor vehicles industry group's sales decreased by -4.3% to $10.6 billion.
- This decline followed a record sales high in May for this subsector.
Inventories in June:
- Wholesale inventories (with exclusions) decreased by -1.2% to $127.7 billion.
- This was the third inventory decline in 2023.
- Four out of seven subsectors reported a drop in inventories.
- The machinery, equipment, and supplies subsector saw the largest decline (-2.6% to $36.9 billion).
- The building material and supplies subsector decreased by -2.0% to $23.3 billion.
- The inventory-to-sales ratio rose from 1.54 in May to 1.59 in June, indicating a longer time to exhaust inventories at current sales levels.
Wholesale Sales in Q2 2023:
- Wholesale sales (with exclusions) fell by -2.0% to $243.9 billion, largely due to June's sales drop.
- The miscellaneous subsector had the most significant quarterly sales decline, dropping -10.4% to $31.8 billion.
- The food and beverage subsector decreased by -3.0% to $44.5 billion.
- Compared to Q2 2022, the wholesale sector's quarterly sales grew by +1.2% in Q2 2023.
