Merchandise trade deficit shrank in December as crude oil exports rose
Exports rose 1.9% in December to $49.3 billion
OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the country’s merchandise trade deficit shrank to $370 million in December compared with $1.2 billion in November, as crude oil exports rose.
Economists on average had expected a deficit of $610 million, according financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
Exports rose 1.9% in December to $49.3 billion but, excluding energy products, edged up 0.3%.
Energy exports climbed 9.5% in December, led by an 18.0% increase in crude oil exports that rebounded after a drop in November due to a rupture in the Keystone pipeline in North Dakota.
Total imports climbed 0.2% in December to $49.7 billion.
For the full year, the trade deficit totalled $18.3 billion in 2019, the smallest deficit since 2014, when the last annual surplus was recorded.
