Canada’s Retail Sales See Biggest Fall Since April

Retail sales in Canada declined by 3.4% in December to CAD 53.38 billion ($42.37 billion), data by Statistics Canada showed on Friday.

This marked the biggest monthly decline in Canadian retail sales since April, as renewed lockdown measures against the Coronavirus vaccines led to the shutdown of many outlets and businesses.

Retail sales decrease across nine out of 11 subsectors, while in terms of volumes, sales fell by 3.6%.

For the entire year, retail sales plunged by 1.4% in 2020, compared with their level 2019, recording the biggest annual decline since the 2009 recession.