GDP per capita declined by 1.4% in 2024 as Canadians continue to get poorer on average

Canada’s economy grew by 2.6 per cent year-over-year in the last three months of 2024, according to new data.

The boost in real gross domestic product was not expected, with the Bank of Canada previously forecasting an increase of 1.8 per cent.

Statistics Canada said the growth was largely driven by household spending, with more Canadians buying new trucks, vans and SUVs.

They also spent more on rent, telecommunications and financial services, StatCan said.

GDP per capita, however, declined 1.4 per cent in 2024, following a 1.3 per cent decline in 2023.

That means that, on average, Canadians were poorer in 2024 than they were in 2023, and were poorer in 2023 than they were in 2022.

GDP per capita has fallen in five of the last seven quarters.

But it’s not all doom and gloom: in the last three months of 2024, GDP per capita increased by 0.2 per cent.

The Bank of Canada brought its key lending rate down to three per cent in January, explaining in its announcement that cheaper debt was “boosting household spending.”

But it also warned: “If broad-based and significant tariffs were imposed [by the US], the resilience of Canada’s economy would be tested.”

Its next rate announcement is due on March 12.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to hit Canada with a 25 per cent tariff on March 4.