Market Snapshot: Passenger vehicle annual export value in 2015 surpasses crude oil for first time since 2007

Release date: 2016-02-10

In 2015 passenger vehicle exports reached $57.8 billion, slightly above the $56.7 billion value of crude oil exports. This led to passenger vehicle exports reclaiming its position as Canada’s most valuable export, a position it held from at least 1988 to 2007^Footnote 1.

The cause of crude oil’s declining export value is the fall of crude oil prices.^Footnote 2 This has decreased Canada’s terms of trade, a measure of the ratio of export prices relative to import prices, and has far reaching implications for the Canadian economy.

One such implication is the lower Canadian dollar.^Footnote 3 In July 2014, when the price of WTI was over $103 per barrel, the Canadian dollar was worth 0.94 USD. By the end of 2015, WTI fell to less than $38 per barrel and the Canadian dollar was worth 0.72 USD.

The depreciated dollar increases the value of Canadian exports priced in U.S. dollars, this has partially mitigated the impact of lower energy prices on Canadian energy producers. The depreciated dollar also tends to increase the attractiveness of non-energy exports. While the export value of energy products fell 52 per cent since March 2014, the value of non-energy exports increased 16 per cent.^Footnote 4

Date modified:

2023-11-28