Looking Up: Real GDP and Alberta’s Agri-Food Industries

by | Jun 14, 2018 | Industry News, News, Report

The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Alberta’s agri-food industry rose again in 2017. Jean Marie Uwizeyimana, agri-food statistician with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, examines the numbers.

In 2017, Alberta’s GDP for agri-food industries rose 2.5 per cent to $6.5 billion, the second consecutive year of growth. “At 12.5 per cent,” explains Uwizeyimana, “These industries represented the third highest percentage share of the total Canadian agri-food GDP after Ontario and Quebec.”

The GDP for the province’s primary agriculture industry increased 1.9 per cent to $3.5 billion in 2017. “Of this total, the GDP for crop and animal production rose 1.8 per cent to $3.4 billion,” says Uwizeyimana. “Support activities for agriculture increased 5.3 per cent to $108.0 million.”

Food and beverage manufacturing industries in Alberta grew at a faster pace, increasing 3.2 per cent to $3.0 billion, adds Uwizeyimana. “It has been increasing for the last five years. The food manufacturing industry GDP rose 3.4 per cent to $2.5 billion, while the beverage manufacturing industry increased 2.2 per cent to $474.3 million.”

Meat products manufacturing continued to be Alberta’s largest food segment. “It accounted for roughly $1.0 billion, or 38.1 per cent, of total food manufacturing GDP,” explains Uwizeyimana. “Grain and oilseed milling ranked second at $296.5 million, or almost 12.0 per cent.”

Overall, Alberta’s economy in 2017 increased 4.9 per cent to $304.7 billion, as measured by real GDP, after declining for two years. Alberta also led all provinces in economic growth, with mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction as the main contributing industries. Nationally, GDP also grew 3.3 per cent to $1.7 trillion: the strongest year-over-year increase since 2011.

GDP is one of the primary indicators used to measure the performance of a country’s economy and is an important tool when comparing the performance of different jurisdictions. It represents the monetary value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period and is often referred to as the size of the economy. Adds Uwizeyimana, “As it is collected in nominal – or current – dollars, comparing two periods requires making adjustments for inflation. Real GDP is GDP adjusted for inflation.”

Source: Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

ONLINE PARTNERS

Trending This Week