Statistics Canada announced on Wednesday that the Canadian retail sales decreased 5.7 percent m-o-m to CAD54.77 billion in April, following an unrevised 3.6 percent m-o-m gain in March. This was the first decline in retail sales since January and the sharpest one since April 2020, and coincided with the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economists had forecast a 5.0 percent m-o-m drop for April.

According to the report, sales fell in 9 of 11 subsectors in April, accounting for 74.2 percent of total retail sales, led by lower sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores (-28.6 percent m-o-m) and general merchandise stores (-8.1 percent m-o-m). Meanwhile, sales at food and beverage stores (+0.6 percent m-o-m) and miscellaneous store retailers (+0.9 percent m-o-m) recorded gains. Core retail sales, which excludes gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers, plunged 7.6 percent m-o-m in April after growing 4.7 percent m-o-m in March. This represented the steepest decline in a year and the second-largest decrease on record.

In y-o-y terms, Canadian retail sales climbed 56.7 percent in April, following an unrevised 23.7 percent jump in March.