Statistics Canada announced on Wednesday that Canada's merchandise trade deficit stood at CAD0.37 billion in December, narrowing from a revised CAD1.20 billion gap in November (originally a CAD1.09-billion gap).

Economists had expected a deficit of CAD0.61 billion.

According to the report, the country's exports rose 1.9 percent m-o-m in December, primarily due to higher crude oil exports (+18.0 percent m-o-m). Meanwhile, imports increased 0.2 percent m-o-m in December, led by a gain in imports of consumer goods (+4.0 percent m-o-m).

For 2019, Canada's trade deficit totaled $18.3 billion, the smallest gap since 2014. The country's total exports rose 1.7 percent in 2019, while total imports grew 1.0 percent.