Canada's Travel account measures the difference between earnings from visitors traveling to Canada and spending by Canadian residents traveling abroad.
Travel deficit highest in more than ten years
According to the international travel account preliminary estimates released by Statistics Canada on May 26, 2004 Canada's international travel deficit in the first quarter of 2004 reached its highest quarterly level in more than ten years.
The following provides a brief summary of the first quarter preliminary results on a seasonally adjusted basis (change over the previous quarter)
- On a seasonally adjusted basis, the total travel deficit increased by $78 million (up 6.1%) in the first quarter 2004 over the fourth quarter of 2003, reaching an estimated $1.3 billion. This was mainly due to a record spending by Canadians travelling abroad in the winter months. In the first quarter, Canadian travellers spent $5.1 billion outside the country (up 2.4% from the previous quarter), while foreign visitors spent $3.8 billion in the first quarter (up 1.1%).
- The travel deficit with the United States increased by $87 million (up 18.9%). This is mainly due to an increase in spending by Canadians in the United States (up 3.0% from the previous quarter), while the Americans’ expenditures in Canada decreased slightly by 0.2%. Compared to its American counterpart, the Canadian dollar remained unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2003.
- The travel deficit with overseas countries decreased slightly by $9 million (down 1.1%) compared to the previous quarter. Overseas visitors spent $1.5 billion in Canada, up 3.2% from the previous quarter. Canadians spent $2.3 billion on overseas trips, up 1.7% from the previous quarter. It is worth mentioning that the Canadian dollar depreciated considerably against overseas currencies (British pound was up 7.3%, Euro, up 5.0% and the Australian dollar was up 6.6%).
|
International travel account receipts and payments
|
|
|
First quarter 2003r |
Fourth quarter 2003r |
First quarter 2004p |
Fourth quarter 2003 to first quarter 2004 |
|
|
seasonally adjusted1
|
|
|
$ millions
|
% change |
|
United States |
|
|
|
|
|
Receipts |
2,433 |
2,285 |
2,279 |
-0.2 |
|
Payments |
2,703 |
2,746 |
2,827 |
3.0 |
|
Balance |
-269 |
-461 |
-548 |
|
|
All other countries |
|
|
|
|
|
Receipts |
1,586 |
1,447 |
1,494 |
3.2 |
|
Payments |
2,029 |
2,257 |
2,295 |
1.7 |
|
Balance |
-442 |
-810 |
-801 |
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
|
Receipts |
4,020 |
3,732 |
3,773 |
1.1 |
|
Payments |
4,731 |
5,002 |
5,122 |
2.4 |
|
Balance
|
-712 |
-1,271 |
-1,349 |
|
On a seasonally unadjusted basis (year to year comparison), the total travel deficit reached $3.2 billion, an increase of 21.2% over the same quarter of 2003.
For more information, contact Denisa Georgescu (613-946-2136) or at georgescu.denisa@ctc-cct.ca
