Canadian international merchandise trade, April 2020

In April, production shutdowns in a number of manufacturing industries, falling energy product prices, the closure of many retail stores, and weaker demand due to physical distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in drastic decreases in Canada's exports and imports.

Exports fell 29.7% to $32.7 billion in April, the lowest level in more than 10 years. Imports were down 25.1% to $35.9 billion, a value not seen since February 2011. These declines, in both absolute value and percentage, are unparalleled, as monthly decreases of this magnitude have never been observed.

Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from $1.5 billion in March to $3.3 billion in April. Despite this increase, it is important to note that trade deficits of more than $3 billion are not uncommon, most recently occurring in February 2019 (deficit of $3.4 billion).

In real (or volume) terms, exports were down 19.9% in April and imports fell 24.8%...

This has been excerpted from a 4 June 2020 release by Statistics Canada.