In honour of our country’s 153rd birthday, today’s Owl looks at how Canada’s economy stacks up against others around the world.
We often think of Canada as having a small economy. Maybe it’s because we are nestled up against the largest economy in the world? Or because we trade with countries that have populations many times larger than ours? Or maybe it’s our natural modesty that’s to blame?
Whatever the reason, “small” is perhaps not the best way to describe the Canadian economy. We are, in fact, the 10th largest economy in the world—generating more GDP in 2019 than Russia, Spain and over 180 other places.
We lose a little ground when it comes to economic output per person—Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita among all countries—but we are still in 19th spot, ahead of places like France, the U.K. and Japan.
Our population is also not as petite as we tend to think. At about 37.5 million, we are the 38th largest country in the world and almost bang on the average 39.3 million people per country. If we leave out China and India, we are well above the average of 25.3 million.
We also place quite high when it comes to education, exports, innovation, agricultural production and, of course, energy.
The point is that maybe it wouldn’t hurt for us to be both more aware of what we have to offer the global economy and somewhat less modest when it comes to throwing our weight around? After all, a little extra confidence can go a long way.
All of the data in today’s Owl are drawn from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database (October 2019).
Note: The Owl will return on Thursday, July 2.
