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Canadian Industry Statistics

GDP
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)

Under this topic you will find information on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) levels and growth for the Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91) in Canada. You can use this information to assess the general health of these sectors and to identify trends in their growth.




Comparing GDP Growth in Goods-Producing vs Services-Producing Industries

The graph below illustrates growth in GDP for the goods and services producing industries between 2002 and 2011.

Growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP): 2002-2011
Goods-Producing vs Services-Producing Industries

Growth in GDP for Goods and Services

Source: Statistics Canada, Gross Domestic Product by Industry, 2002 to 2011.

Between 2002 and 2011, GDP for the Canadian economy increased at an annual rate (CAGR) of 1.9% per year. The goods-producing industries increased at a rate of 0.6%, while the services-producing industries showed an increase in GDP of 2.6% per year.

In 2011, annual GDP for the Canadian economy (not shown) decreased from 3.3% to 2.6%. The chart above illustrates that the performance of the goods-producing segment of the economy in 2011 (3.6%) declined from the previous year (4.9%), despite the enormous economic rebound the sector experienced from 2009 (-9.9%). The services-producing industries dropped from 2.6% to 2.2%, from 2010 to 2011.

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GDP and Growth in Services-Producing Industries

The table below shows GDP chained-dollar levels as well as short and long-term GDP growth rates for each services-producing sector of the Canadian economy.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Industry Sector: 2002-2011
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)
NAICS
Code
Sector GDP* (millions of chained 2002 dollars) CAGR**
2002-2011
% Change
2010-2011
2002 2011

*GDP is expressed in chained 2002 dollars in order to maintain accurate growth rates. Chained levels are non-additive, therefore sector values will not add up to the value for the Canadian economy.

**Compound annual growth rate.

***GDP values for these three sectors are combined.

Source: Statistics Canada, Gross Domestic Product by Industry, 2002 to 2011.

41 Wholesale Trade 55,226 71,034 2.8% 3.2%
44-45 Retail Trade 58,483 76,832 3.1% 1.6%
48-49 Transportation and Warehousing 50,066 59,743 2.0% 3.8%
51 Information and Cultural Industries 38,229 45,907 2.1% 1.5%
52, 53, 55*** Finance and Insurance, Real Estate and Leasing and Management of Companies and Enterprises 202,959 264,270 3.0% 2.6%
54 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 48,481 61,566 2.7% 2.7%
56 Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services 24,853 30,752 2.4% 1.4%
61 Educational Services 51,593 63,150 2.3% 1.0%
62 Health Care and Social Assistance 68,142 84,485 2.4% 2.1%
71 Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 10,398 11,227 0.9% -1.2%
72 Accommodation and Food Services 25,408 27,341 0.8% 2.7%
81 Other Services (except Public Administration) 27,230 33,093 2.2% 2.4%
91 Public Administration 61,523 76,374 2.4% 1.3%
Services-Producing Industries
(NAICS 41-91)
722,590 906,458 2.6% 2.2%
 
Goods-Producing Industries
(NAICS 11-33)
346,175 365,036 0.6% 3.6%
 
Canadian Economy
(NAICS 11-91)
1,068,765 1,266,578 1.9% 2.6%

The activities of services-producers account for more than two-thirds of total industry-based GDP in Canada. Between 2002 and 2011, the sectors that produce services saw the GDP grow at an average rate of 2.6% per year.

Annual GDP Growth: 2010 and 2011
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)

Growth in GDP for Services-producing Industries 2010-2011

*FIRE = Finance and Insurance (NAICS 52) and Real Estate and Rental and Leasing (NAICS 53) and the Management of Companies and Enterprises (NAICS 55) combined. Other sector names may appear in abbreviated form for display purposes

Source: Statistics Canada, Gross Domestic Product by Industry, 2002 to 2011.

The activities of services-producers account for more than two-thirds of total industry-based GDP in Canada. While the services-producing industries were not immune to the global economic down-turn that began in the latter half of 2009, relatively hardy domestic demand allowed the services-producing segment of the economy to maintain some growth in 2010. However, in 2011, the industry saw a decline in its GDP growth rates.

The largest increase was registered in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical services sector. It recorded a 1.1% GDP growth rate from 2010 to 2011.

The Health Care and Social Assistance sector saw a slight decrease of 0.2% in its GDP for 2011. Also declining is the Retail Trade sector, which decreased by 2.3%, following its increase of 3.8% in 2010.

The Other Services sector posted an increase in growth of 0.8% from 2010 to 2011, following its 1.6% increase from 2009 to 2010.

The Accommodation and Food Services sector posted another increase in growth of 0.1% from 2010 to 2011. However, GDP also showed a decrease in the Educational Services sector to 1.0% in 2011 from its 2.2% in 2010.

The grouping of Finance and Insurance, Real Estate and Leasing and Management of Companies and Enterprises also saw an increase from 2.5% in 2010 to 2.6% in 2011.

In 2011, output for the Information and Cultural Industries sector increased by 0.8%. Output had increased by 0.7% in 2010.

GDP growth for the Administrative and Support, Waste Management, and Remediation Services sector decreased by 0.2% from 2010 to 2011, following a 1.6% growth from 2009 to 2010. GDP growth for the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector in 2011, showed a 2.2% decrease from 2010, resulting in its negative GDP of -1.2%.

The Wholesale Trade sector suffered a decline from 5.3% in 2010 to 3.2% in 2011. Similarly, the Transportation and Warehousing industries decreased from 4.3% in 2010 to 3.8% currently.

The Public Administration sector declined 1.0%, dropping from 2.3% in 2010 to 1.3% in 2011.

Important Notes on Gross Domestic Product Data

The GDP by Industry data in the present section are maintained by Statistics Canada's Canadian System of National Economic Accounts. The data are expressed in basic prices and presented in chained 2002 dollars. The process of chaining removes the effect of changes in price while minimizing distortion over time. In this section data are available for the years 2002-2011.

Readers should be aware that there are other ways of expressing Gross Domestic Product aside from those presented here (e.g. expenditure-based and income-based rather than by industry; at factor cost and market prices rather than at basic prices and in constant dollars as opposed to chained dollars). As a result, caution is recommended when comparing the data presented herein with other published sources.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Industry data within the present section does not define or examine recessionary periods for the Canadian economy, sectors, subsectors or industries. This type of analysis is possible through examining more precise quarterly and monthly trends. Monthly data are available from the Statistics Canada website (see Gross domestic product at basic prices by industry).

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Understanding GDP and Value-Added

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Industry measures the value of output of an industry less the value of intermediate inputs required in the production process. In this sense, it is an output-based measure of economic activity and is commonly referred to as the total value-added of an industry.

The value-added concept is used to avoid double counting. For instance, GDP in the Retail Bakeries industry would not include the value of the flour used to make a loaf of bread, it would only include the value the Retail Bakeries industry adds by turning the flour into bread (for example, the mixing, leavening and baking process).

This example of value-added (GDP) can be broadened to illustrate the total value of a loaf of bread. Let us suppose we live in a simple world where the only two inputs needed to make bread are flour and water. And for the moment, let us assume water is free.

So as before, it is the baker who turns the flour into bread. This process is his value-added (GDP). For the baker, flour is an input into the production of bread, thus the value of the flour is not included in the value-added (GDP) of the baker.

The baker buys his flour from the miller, who produces flour by grinding wheat. So the value-added (GDP) of manufacturing flour is captured by the miller. Since the miller purchases wheat as an input, the value of wheat is not included in the value-added (GDP) of the miller.

Who does the miller buy his wheat from? From the farmer, who harvests the wheat from his land using his blood, sweat and tears. Then, the value-added (GDP) of wheat, which is ground to produce flour by the miller to make a loaf of bread by the baker, is captured by the farmer.

Since our baker owns a retail bakery, and sells his wares directly to market, the total value of the bread would equal the value-added of the farmer plus the value-added of the miller plus the value-added of the baker.

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Understanding GDP and Economic Growth

Economic growth is often measured as the percentage increase in GDP, adjusted for inflation, from one year over an earlier year. Trend growth rates for an economy, sector or industry are calculated over a series of years. In Canadian Industry Statistics, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is frequently used to depict trends in real GDP growth and other economic indicators.

GDP growth is an important economic indicator. It measures progress or the rate of expansion of the economy's capacity to produce output (goods and services). It is examined as a measure of the short term stability or instability of the economy. GDP growth is also reflective of the future consumption possibilities for a nation and is the main source of improvements to our standard of living over time.

Economic growth occurs from accumulating human capital (knowledge and skills), investing in physical capital (factories, machinery and equipment) and the implementation of new technologies in the production process.

With benefits to economic growth come costs, one cost to economic growth is that in order to increase the consumption possibilities for tomorrow, we have to forego some consumption today. To maintain economic growth more effort has to be placed on the production of technology and capital in order to produce goods for future consumption, rather than the production of goods for current consumption.

Other costs may occur from sustaining a high rate of economic growth, such as resource and environmental degradation. However, the impact faster economic growth has on our environment and resources are not reflected in the measure GDP growth.