NWT reverses downward trend in wholesale trade

January $22.5 million

February $29 million

March $38.1 million

April $32.8 million

May $31.9 million

June $36.1 million

July $36.8 million

August $36.8 million

September $36.7 million

October $35.1 million

November $38.1 million

December $29 million

By Derek Neary Northern

Services

The tide has finally turned for wholesale trade in the Northwest Territories with approximately $402.8 million in sales in 2022.

That marked a 41 per cent turnaround from $285.8 million in wholesale trade in 2021.

It was also a significant improvement over $350 million in wholesale activity in 2020.

Wholesalers typically supply bulk goods to retailers and other merchants.

Prior to 2022, the territory had experienced four consecutive years of decline in wholesale trade with 2018 being the high-water mark of $687.6 million.

The first quarter of 2023 brought continued brisk sales with $28.1 million reported in January, $37.8 million in February and a blistering $56.8 million in March. That marked the best result for a single month in the NWT since March 2019 when wholesale transactions totalled $66 million.

Despite the promising figures, Statistics Canada data shows that the sector only amounted to one per cent of the NWT’s gross domestic product in 2022. It has fallen gradually each year from 2.8 per cent in 2018, not keeping pace with the growth experienced in some other industries.

In Nunavut, where $202.1 million in wholesale trade was achieved in 2021, the sector’s performance became a mystery in 2022 as Statistics Canada suppressed the monthly data. The federal agency does this when figures are small enough among a limited number of producers that privacy may be breached.

However, Statistics Canda did reveal that wholesale activity slipped to 0.9 per cent of Nunavut’s gross domestic product in 2022, down from 1.14 per cent the previous year.