China News Service, Toronto, March 1 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased slightly by 0.2% month-on-month, and the real GDP in 2023 by industry increased by 1.2% year-on-year.

　　Statistics Canada released the latest economic statistics on February 29, local time, and pointed out that despite strong growth in the first quarter of last year, a variety of factors including rising interest rates, inflation, forest fires and droughts, strikes, etc., dragged down the country's overall economic performance. annual economic growth.

　　In the third quarter of last year, Canada's real GDP fell by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter.

Statistics Canada pointed out that increased exports and reduced imports drove GDP growth in the fourth quarter, but a decline in business investment slowed this growth.

　　Final domestic demand, which consists of final consumption expenditure and gross fixed capital formation, fell by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023 after growing by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the previous quarter.

On a year-on-year basis, Canada's real GDP and final domestic demand have both achieved three consecutive years of growth since the economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But real GDP growth in 2023 is the slowest since 2016.

　　Driven by exports of crude oil and crude asphalt, Canada's exports of goods and services increased by 1.4% in the fourth quarter last year.

However, imports of goods and services fell by 0.4% month-on-month, mainly due to reduced imports of intermediate metal products, tires, motor vehicle engines and parts, as well as passenger cars and light trucks.

　　In the fourth quarter of last year, Canadian household spending increased by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter; housing investment fell by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter.

Actual business investment also fell for the sixth time in the past seven quarters.

　　Similarly, from a quarter-on-quarter basis, the ratio of export prices to import prices fell by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of last year.

The price increase of imported products was 0.8%, which exceeded the 0.3% increase of the price of export products.

Overall, terms of trade fell by 5.9% last year, while export prices fell by 3.8% after strong growth in the previous two years.

　　In December last year, Canada's real GDP remained basically flat month-on-month, despite growth in 14 of the 20 industries covered by the statistics.

　　Preliminary estimates from Statistics Canada show that real GDP increased by 0.4% month-on-month in January this year.

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