The Northwest Territories’ economy stalled in 2023, preliminary GDP data shows, contracting by 0.1 percent.
The NWT Bureau of Statistics attributed the “relatively flat” year to a decline in goods-producing industries, particularly oil and gas extraction, which fell by 33.5 percent over the year. Diamond mining fell by 1.9 percent.
Transportation, aviation, finance and retail also declined.
For the second year in a row, the NWT’s performance in Statistics Canada’s initial estimates is better only than that of Newfoundland and Labrador, where the economy contracted by more than two percent. Nunavut recorded growth of more than three percent, the strongest in Canada, having had a flat economy a year earlier.
These figures are provisional and are updated in a final report later in the year.
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Sometimes, the final report can be meaningfully different to the preliminary estimate.
The NWT’s initial 2022 performance was revised upward when final data was released in the fall of 2023, giving the territory more of a middle-of-the-pack status.
These reports study GDP, or gross domestic product, which measures the size and growth of the economy in each region of the country. They count the market value of all goods and services produced within each region during a specific year.
“Typically, GDP in the NWT is driven by a few goods-producing industries that may rise or fall over the short to medium term. In contrast, the service producing sector tends to increase steadily over time,” the NWT Bureau of Statistics stated in a Wednesday news release.
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“The pandemic disrupted both sectors in 2020, with both experiencing a partial recovery in 2021. Since then, the service sector has returned to pre-pandemic levels while the goods sector has slightly declined.”
The construction industry increased by 7.8 percent in 2023, the news release stated. Healthcare and social assistance rose by 4.2 percent.
“Accommodation and food services, one of the hardest-hit sectors of the pandemic, marked a return to pre-pandemic levels, increasing by 6.2 percent between 2022 and 2023,” the news release added.
