OTTAWA — Export Development Canada is forecasting that exports this year will fall 20.3 per cent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its updated global export forecast, EDC says exports will bounce back in 2021, but the predicted rise of 19.0 per cent will leave them short of where they were in 2019 before the crisis.
The drop this year is expected to include a 30 per cent plunge in automotive exports and a 33 per cent drop in the energy sector. Aerospace industry exports are forecast to fall 35 per cent.
Excluding the energy and auto sectors, exports are expected to be down 14 per cent this year.
Only two sectors are expected to show single-digit percentage declines.
The agri-food sector is forecast to fall eight per cent, while the consumer goods industry is predicted to drop nine per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2020
