Canada’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2025. This was after a slight fall of 0.5% registered in the 2nd quarter. The rise in the 3rd quarter was driven by a stronger trade balance, with imports decreasing whilst exports edged up. Increased capital investment was driven by the government’s capital expenditure since business investment was dormant. This led to a decline in both household and government final consumption expenditures, as well as a slower accumulation of business inventory, which dampened overall growth.
Meantime. The GDP per capita increased by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, following a slight decline of 0.5% in the previous 2nd quarter.
Canada registered the largest decline in imports during the last 3 years since 2022. A slight increase in exports offset the drop from the 2nd quarter.
In comparison with the second quarter, imports of goods and services declined slightly by 2.2% during the third quarter. This reflected the largest drop during the past 3 years since the 4th quarter of 2022. After registering a significant increase in the second quarter of 2025, imports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals declined in the third quarter. This decline was accompanied by a decrease in imports of industrial machinery, while imports of equipment and parts also fell during the 3rd quarter. This fall was partially attributed to the results of a stronger 2nd quarter rebound, mainly due to the import of a large oil & gas platform module.
Exports of goods & services edged up 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, which in turn was a slight increase from a rather significant decrease during the 2nd quarter of -07%. Conversely, the increase during the 3rd quarter was led by a higher export volume of crude oil, besides crude bitumen, reflecting +6.7%. This improvement was followed by commercial services registering +1.7%. Decreased exports of unwrought gold, silver & platinum group metals tempered the overall increase registered during the 3rd quarter.
