Editor’s Note
The following article details a significant monthly decline in Quebec’s merchandise exports for October 2025, driven largely by contractions in key sectors such as aerospace and refined petroleum products.
According to the latest data compiled by the Institut de la statistique du Québec, Quebec’s seasonally adjusted international merchandise exports in constant dollars decreased by 4.9% in October 2025 compared to the previous month (+5.2% in September).
The products that contributed the most to this monthly decline were aircraft (-55.6%), aircraft engines (-8.6%), light fuel oil (-61.5%), as well as jewelry, cut precious stones, jewelry parts, tableware and utensils, and other articles of precious metal (-44.5%).
However, exports of heavy fuel oil (+975.4%), nickel ores and concentrates (which had zero exports in September), buses, coaches, and special-purpose vehicles (+92.4%), as well as diesel and biodiesel fuels (+65.5%) increased in October.
It should be noted that exports for the first ten months of 2025 fell by 4.5% compared to the same period in 2024, in a year marked by trade conflicts.
Furthermore, Quebec’s exports to the United States for the first ten months of 2025, not seasonally adjusted and in current dollars, experienced a 6.1% decrease compared to the same months in 2024. On the same basis and for the same period, exports to other countries (excluding the United States) increased by 8.1%.
In total, overall exports, including those destined for the United States, decreased by 2.3%.
Quebec’s seasonally adjusted international merchandise imports in constant dollars showed a decline of 0.8% in October 2025 compared to September (+0.9% in September).
The products that contributed the most to the decrease in these imports are primary forms and semi-finished products of non-ferrous metals and non-ferrous metal alloys, except gold, silver, platinum group metals, and aluminum (-75.1%), pharmaceutical and medicinal products (-21.0%), bauxite and aluminum oxide (-20.0%), as well as light trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles with electric and hybrid engines (-24.1%).
On the other hand, imports of aircraft engines (+83.4%), computers and peripherals (+24.1%), conventional crude oil (+11.3%), as well as light trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles, without electric engines (+4.4%), increased in October.
Imports for the first ten months of 2025 grew by 5.1% compared to the same months in 2024.
According to the most recent data from Statistics Canada on the matter published on January 8, Canada’s seasonally adjusted merchandise exports in constant dollars decreased by 1.2% in October 2025 compared to the previous month. Imports, on the other hand, increased by 3.6%.
For the first ten months of 2025, Canada’s merchandise exports recorded a decrease of 1.3% compared to the same period in 2024, while imports experienced an increase of 0.2%.
