Market Snapshot: The value of Canadian energy exports has been growing since 2016, but is still lower than the highs seen in 2014

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Release date: 2020-02-26

Over the last 7 years (between 2012 and 2019), the total value of Canadian merchandise exports increased from $148 billion to $193 billion.Footnote 1 Energy exports didn’t follow the same trend. From 2012 to 2014, the value of energy exports increased from $110 billion to $136 billion before decreasing to $79 billion after global oil prices fell significantly. Since 2016, the value of energy exports grew to $123.5 billion in 2018, but have yet to reach the highs seen in 2014. Similarly, energy’s share of total merchandise export value decreased from 24% in 2014 to 21% in 2019.

Figure 1. The Value of Canadian Merchandise Exports from 2012 to 2019

Source and Description

Source: Statistics Canada

Description: This area graph shows the value of Canadian merchandise exports from 2012 to 2019. The value of energy exports increased between 2012 and 2014. The share of energy exports decreased over the same time period. The value of energy exports increased from 110.2 billion dollars in 2012 to 124.2 billion dollars in 2019. The share of energy exports decreased from 24% to 21% over the same time period. All prices reflect seasonally unadjusted current prices.

Crude oil exports, including bitumen, account for most of Canada’s energy export value; remaining consistent around 70% of total export value. Other commodities, like natural gas, refined petroleum products, and electricity, have comparatively smaller export values.

Figure 2. The Share of Different Energy Products Exported by Canada from 2012 to 2019

Source and Description

Source: Statistics Canada

Description: The stacked area chart illustrates the shares of different energy products exported by Canada from 2012 to 2019. Over the whole time period the export share for all commodities was relatively stable. In 2019, Crude oil and bitumen accounted for about 73% of energy exports. Natural gas and natural gas liquids at 9%, electricity at 2%, refined petroleum products (RPPs) at 8%, and other energy products, which includes coal, nuclear fuel and other energy products, like coal and nuclear fuel, accounted for about 8%. All percentages are calculated from seasonally adjusted prices.

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