Despite being in better shape than a year earlier, the dollar value of Alberta’s international merchandise exports contracted for the fourth month in a row in December.

At $15.1 billion, exports were 9.4% below November’s tally of $16.7 billion and 21.1% ($4.0 billion) lower than the record set in June 2022.

Lower energy prices were a key driver of the pullback as was a drop in the volume of agricultural exports.

The value of energy product exports was down by $1.1 billion (-8.9%) while the farm, fishing and intermediate food products category was off by $392 million (-27.5%).

Exports to the United States were down by 7.7% ($1.1 billion) compared to November while exports to China were down by 33.7% ($277 million)

On a year-over-year basis, exports from Alberta in December were 8.3% ($1.2 billion) higher than 12 months earlier with year-over-year increases posted across all major sub-sectors including a 52.9% ($357 million) rise in the value of agriculture exports.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Played in 1980 at California’s Rose Bow, Super Bowl XIV holds the record for the big game’s largest crowd at 103,985.

Today’s trivia question: What percentage of Alberta’s international energy exports went to the United States last year?