Annual Statistical Review recaps 2020 pandemic year

The Annual Statistical Review released today, provides an analysis of the province’s economic state, shows areas that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlights the resilience of PEI’s economy.

The 47th edition gathers data from provincial government departments, the private sector, and Statistics Canada to provide a socio-economic snapshot of PEI. 

The data shows that while the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on various sectors of PEI’s economy in 2020, there were some successes during a very difficult year, including:

• labour income increased by 1.9 per cent;
• farm cash receipts increased by 7 per cent and valued an all-time high of $604.7 million;
• lobster landings reached 38.9 million pounds, valued at $166.2 million;
• retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent;
• international exports increased by 0.9 percent to reach $1.5 billion.

“Our Island businesses have worked very hard over the past year to adapt to all kinds of change and uncertainty, and we will continue to work with every sector to ensure our economy grows and prospers. As we begin to re-open our province, we know that Islanders will be there to support and lead our economy to pre-pandemic levels.”

- Finance Minister Darlene Compton

Media contact:    
Kip Ready
Department of Finance
902-314-3407
kjready@gov.pe.ca

Backgrounder

Highlights of the 2020 Annual Statistical Review:

• 2020 GDP contracted by 3 per cent (Real GDP by Industry)
• Employment averaged 76,700, a decrease of 2,500 over 2019 or 3.2 per cent
• Unemployment rate averaged 10.4 per cent, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over 2019
• Total labour income increased by 1.9 per cent
• Lobster landings reached 38.9 million pounds, valued at $166.2 million
• Farm cash receipts increased by 7 per cent and valued an all-time high of  $604.7 million
• All-Items Consumer Price Index for PEI in 2020 was the same as in 2019
• Retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent
• Housing starts totaled 1,162, a decrease of 22.7 per cent
• New motor vehicle sales in 2020 numbered 7,010 and valued $262.3 million
• International exports increased by 0.9 percent, to reach $1.5 billion