📝 Canada's Economic Growth Has Not Outpaced U.S. Despite Population Trends: BMO

Canada’s overall economic growth has not outpaced that of the U.S.—on the contrary. After reversing the heavy blow from the pandemic, U.S. output has essentially recovered to its underlying growth rate. Measured on a cycle-peak to cycle-peak basis, the U.S. economy grew at an average pace of just under 1.7% per year in the 12 years to the end of 2019, and it has since almost precisely matched that trend through the first quarter of 2023.

In contrast, while Canada’s pre-COVID trend was also 1.7%, it has managed a meagre 1.1% pace since the end of 2019. Put another way, Canada has grown by a cumulative 1.8% less than the U.S. since 2019Q4, even as the population has grown over 3.5% faster

- BMO