Fraser Institute News Release: Canadians experiencing second-longest and third-steepest decline in living standards in last 40 years
May 16 2024 - 5:00AM
From 2019 to 2023, Canadian living standards declined—and as of the
end of 2023, the decline had not yet ended, finds a new study
published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent,
non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Despite claims to the contrary, living standards are declining
in Canada,” said Grady Munro, policy analyst at the Fraser
Institute and co-author of Changes in Per-Person GDP
(Income): 1985 to 2023.
Specifically, from April 2019 to the end of 2023,
inflation-adjusted per-person GDP, a broad measure of living
standards, declined from $59,905 to $58,111 or by 3.0 per cent.
This decline is exceeded only by the decline in 1989 to 1992 (-5.3
per cent) and 2008 to 2009 (-5.2 per cent). In other words, it’s
the third-steepest decline in 40 years.
Moreover, the latest decline (which comprises 18 fiscal
quarters) is already the second-longest in the last 40 years,
surpassed only by the decline from 1989 to 1994 (which lasted 21
quarters). And if not stabilized in 2024, this decline could be the
steepest and longest in four decades.
“The severity of the decline in living standards should be a
wake-up call for policymakers across Canada to immediately enact
fundamental policy reforms to help spur economic growth and
productivity,” said Jason Clemens, study co-author and executive
vice-president at the Fraser Institute.
MEDIA CONTACT: Grady Munro, Policy Analyst,
Fraser Institute
To arrange media interviews or for more information, please
contact:Mark Hasiuk, Senior Media Relations Specialist,
604-688-0221 ext. 517,mark.hasiuk@fraserinstitute.org
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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy
research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver,
Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of
think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality
of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by
studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of
government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their
well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not
accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit
www.fraserinstitute.org