Canadian international merchandise trade, December 2018

Canada's exports declined 3.8% in December, almost entirely on lower exports of energy products, which were down as a result of falling crude oil prices. Imports were up 1.6%, mainly on higher imports of energy products. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $2.0 billion in November to a record $4.6 billion in December.

Energy products lead the decrease in exports

Total exports were down 3.8% to $46.3 billion in December, the fifth consecutive monthly decline since the record set in July. Exports have fallen 9.8% or by $5.0 billion since July, with energy products being responsible for 80% of the decrease. Excluding energy products, exports were essentially unchanged in December. Overall, export prices decreased 2.4% and volumes were down 1.4%...

This has been excerpted from a 6 March 2019 release by Statistics Canada.