Goal 6

Firms Participating In Export Trade - Deep Dive


Goal Status

checkmark icon to signify progressing Progressing Not On Track
Baseline: 930
Current: 972
Target: 1395
Bands

The industries with the largest numbers of international merchandise exporting establishments in Nova Scotia are goods producing — mainly manufacturing and agriculture and fishing — as well as service industries that participate in both wholesale and retail trade.

Industry Number of Exporting Establishments
Agriculture-Forestry-Fishing-Hunting 106
Mining-Quarrying-Oil and gas extraction 14
Utilities 5
Construction 32
Manufacturing 273
Wholesale trade 248
Retail trade 107
Transportation and warehousing 38
Information and cultural industries 6
Finance and insurance 9
Real estate and rental and leasing 10
Professional-Scientific-Technical services 43
Management of companies and enterprises 8
Administrative and support-Waste management-Remediation services 13
Educational services 7
Health care and social assistance 8
Arts-Entertainment-Recreation 9
Accommodation and food services 3
Other services (except public administration) 27
Public administration 6

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Exporting establishments in Nova Scotia were evenly split between Halifax and outside of Halifax. In 2020, there were 457 exporting establishments in Halifax and 515 outside of Halifax. Outside of Halifax, there were more establishments in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting and manufacturing, while Halifax had more establishments in service-based industries.

Industry Halifax Outside of Halifax
All industries 457 515
Agriculture-Forestry-Fishing-Hunting 7 99
Mining-Quarrying-Oil and gas extraction 0 0
Utilities 5 0
Construction 17 15
Manufacturing 105 168
Wholesale trade 124 124
Retail trade 67 40
Transportation and warehousing 27 11
Information and cultural industries 0 0
Finance and insurance 0 0
Real estate and rental and leasing 5 5
Professional-Scientific-Technical services 35 8
Management of companies and enterprises 6 2
Administrative and support-Waste management-Remediation services 7 6
Educational services 7 0
Health care and social assistance 5 3
Arts-Entertainment-Recreation 5 4
Accommodation and food services 0 0
Other services (except public administration) 17 10
Public administration 5 1

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The manufacturing industry accounted for 64.1 per cent of Nova Scotia’s merchandise exports in 2020. It also produced $11.5 million dollars in exports per establishment. Wholesale trade accounted for another 23.8 per cent of the province’s merchandise exports, while agriculture and fishing accounted for 4.9 per cent and mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction accounted for 3.4 per cent. Combined, these four industries generated 96.3 per cent of Nova Scotia’s merchandise exports and represent 65.9 per cent of the province’s exporting establishments.

Industry Value
Agriculture-Forestry-Fishing-Hunting 2.3
Mining-Quarrying-Oil and gas extraction 12
Utilities 0.1
Construction 0.1
Manufacturing 11.5
Wholesale trade 4.7
Retail trade 0.4
Transportation and warehousing 1.3
Information and cultural industries 0
Finance and insurance 0.8
Real estate and rental and leasing 1.9
Professional-Scientific-Technical services 0.4
Management of companies and enterprises 4.1
Administrative and support-Waste management-Remediation services 0.3
Educational services 0.2
Health care and social assistance 0.6
Arts-Entertainment-Recreation 0
Accommodation and food services 0
Other services (except public administration) 0.1
Public administration 0

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The value of exports per establishment was $2.6 million in Halifax and $7.2 million outside of Halifax in 2020. The higher value outside of Halifax largely reflects the higher value of manufacturing output outside of Halifax.

Industry Halifax Outside of Halifax
All industries 2.61 7.2
Agriculture-Forestry-Fishing-Hunting 1.16 2.33
Mining-Quarrying-Oil and gas extraction 0 0
Utilities 0.09 0
Construction 0.14 0.07
Manufacturing 3.38 16.59
Wholesale trade 4.82 4.59
Retail trade 0.46 0.27
Transportation and warehousing 0.7 2.71
Information and cultural industries 0 0
Finance and insurance 0 0
Real estate and rental and leasing 0.67 3.22
Professional-Scientific-Technical services 0.45 0.28
Management of companies and enterprises 4.73 2.01
Administrative and support-Waste management-Remediation services 0.29 0.32
Educational services 0.2 0
Health care and social assistance 0.93 0.01
Arts-Entertainment-Recreation 0.01 0.03
Accommodation and food services 0 0
Other services (except public administration) 0.08 0.11
Public administration 0.01 0.02

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Looking at detailed results for the manufacturing sector, food manufacturing had the largest number of merchandise exporting establishments.

Sub-sector Number
Food manufacturing 75
Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing 8
Textile product mills 4
Clothing manufacturing 4
Wood product manufacturing 15
Paper manufacturing 7
Printing and related support activities 5
Chemical manufacturing 16
Plastics and rubber products manufacturing 21
Non-metallic mineral product manufacturing 4
Fabricated metal product manufacturing 27
Machinery manufacturing 21
Computer and electronic product manufacturing 16
Electrical equipment and appliance and component manufacturing 7
Transportation equipment manufacturing 13
Furniture and related product manufacturing 7
Miscellaneous manufacturing 19

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Two of the province’s significant export industries stand out in the value of exports per exporting establishment by manufacturing sub-sector – pulp and paper manufacturing and tire manufacturing. Both show significantly above average export value per establishment.

Sub-sector Millions of Dollars
Food manufacturing 13.25
Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing 0.04
Textile product mills 1.84
Clothing manufacturing 0.88
Wood product manufacturing 10.03
Paper manufacturing 25.18
Printing and related support activities 0.02
Chemical manufacturing 5.9
Plastics and rubber products manufacturing 62.93
Non-metallic mineral product manufacturing 2.51
Fabricated metal product manufacturing 0.81
Machinery manufacturing 5.75
Computer and electronic product manufacturing 5.66
Electrical equipment and appliance and component manufacturing 8.6
Transportation equipment manufacturing 4.13
Furniture and related product manufacturing 0.25
Miscellaneous manufacturing 0.14

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Of the province’s 972 establishments participating in international merchandise exports in 2020, 71.2 per cent exported to a single country. However, the 280 establishments that exported to two or more countries accounted for a larger share (53 per cent) the total value of merchandise exports and had a higher export value per establishment.

Group Share of Exporting Establishments
1 partner country 71.2
2 or more partner countries 28.8

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Looking at the province’s largest merchandise export destinations, 754 establishments exported to the United States in 2020, accounting for 69.8 per cent of the value of merchandise exports. Exports to the United States had the second largest value per establishment with exports to China holding the highest value per establishment in 2020. There has been significant growth in the number of firms exporting to, and the value of exports destined for, Asian markets. From 2010 to 2020, the value of merchandise exports from Nova Scotia to Asian markets has more than doubled, displacing Europe as the province’s second largest export market. In particular, firms exporting to China, Japan, and South Korea have steadily grown.

Nova Scotia's 10 Largest Export Destinations, 2020

 

Value of Exports (x1,000)

Number of Establishments *

Value per Establishment (x1,000)

United States

$3,419,013,000

754

$4,534,500

China

$550,648,000

106

$5,194,792

Japan

$92,553,000

60

$1,542,550

Netherlands

$84,675,000

51

$1,660,294

South Korea

$68,497,000

75

$913,293

United Kingdom

$66,050,000

88

$750,568

Belgium

$65,511,000

47

$1,393,851

France

$64,311,000

122

$527,139

Germany

$48,306,000

56

$862,607

India

$32,667,000

24

$1,361,125

 

​​​*Note that the sum of the exporting establishments column exceeds the provincial total of 972. This is because some establishments export to two or more countries.

Number of Partner Countries Value Per Establishment
1 partner country 3.35
2 or more partner countries 9.22

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CHANGES TO THE INDICATOR, BASELINE, OR TARGET:

  • We were not able to replicate the baseline number quoted in the Report of the Nova Scotia Commission on Building our New Economy.
  • A new data source has since become available from Statistics Canada, which was adopted here.
  • This new data source measures the number of business establishments participating in international merchandise exports. Note that an establishment is not the same as a business. A business can own multiple establishments.
  • The change in indicator results in a new, higher baseline, but the target is still assumed to require 50% growth over the baseline.