Canada's international trade deficit increased to 37.3 billion Canadian dollars (about 29.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020 from 15.4 billion Canadian dollars in 2019, according to Statistics Canada on Wednesday. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic impact, the value of Canada's annual exports dropped 12.4 percent in 2020 to 524 billion Canadian dollars while annual imports fell 8.5 percent to 561 billion Canadian dollars. When international trade in goods and international trade in services are combined, Canada's total trade deficit rose to 44.8 billion Canadian dollars in 2020 from 36.9 billion Canadian dollars in 2019. Canada's total trade activity, including exports and imports, was down from 1,212 billion Canadian dollars in 2019 to 1,086 billion Canadian dollars in 2020, down 10.4 percent.
Exports of energy products fell 36.6 percent in 2020 to 74.3 billion Canadian dollars. The annual decrease of 42.9 billion Canadian dollars represented the largest drop of all product sections in 2020. Exports of crude oil were responsible for more than three-quarters of that decrease. Exports to the United States plunged 15.7 percent to 376.2 billion Canadian dollars in 2020, the lowest annual value since 2013. Most of this decline was attributable to lower exports of energy products and motor vehicles and parts. Meanwhile, imports from the United States fell 10.9 percent to 349.3 billion Canadian dollars, also the lowest annual value since 2013. Similar to exports, lower imports of motor vehicles and parts and energy products accounted for most of this decline. Exports to countries other than the United States fell 2.6 percent to 147.9 billion Canadian dollars in 2020. Lower exports to Hong Kong, Mexico and Saudi Arabia were partially offset by higher exports to Switzerland and China.
Imports from countries other than the United States declined 4.3 percent to 212.1 billion Canadian dollars due to lower imports from Mexico and Japan. Higher imports from China and Switzerland partly offset the overall decline. Canada's international trade in services was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. On an annual basis, Canada's international imports of services plunged 24 percent to 122.3 billion Canadian dollars, and exports were down 17.7 percent to 114.7 billion Canadian dollars.