Nicknamed “The Energy Province” with the slogan “Wild Rose Country” and located in Western Canada, the province of Alberta shipped CDN$119.5 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2023.

That dollar amount results from a 127.6% increase from $52.5 billion five years earlier in 2019.

Year over year, the overall revenues from Albertan exports fell by -8.8% compared to $131 billion for 2022.

Petroleum-rich Alberta ranks as Canada’s second-biggest exporter by province or territory behind the front-runner province Ontario and just ahead of third-place Quebec. The value of Alberta’s exports equals 23.6% of Canada’s overall exported products for 2023, down from 26.4% in 2022.

Based on statistics from Statista, Alberta’s exported products represent 53.9% of the province’s total economic output or real Gross Domestic Product ($336.3 billion for 2023). Currency used for this calculation was based on Canadian dollars as reported by Government of Canada’s Trade Data Online.

Given Alberta’s population of 4.645 million people, its total CDN$119.5 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $39,050 for every resident in the Western Canadian province. That dollar metric lags the average $45,200 per capita one year earlier in 2022.

Alberta’s unemployment rate was 7.7% at the end of August 31, 2024, up from 5.7% for August 2023 per YCharts.

Alberta’s Top 15 Exports

The following export products represent the highest dollar value for Alberta’s global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Alberta.

Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.

1. Crude petroleum oils: CDN$119.5 billion (65.9% of Alberta’s total exports)
2. Natural gas (gaseous state): $7.9 billion (4.4%)
3. Wheat (excluding durum): $3.1 billion (1.7%)
4. Boneless beef cuts (fresh or chilled): $2.7 billion (1.5%)
5. Miscellaneous petroleum oils: $2.5 billion (1.4%)
6. Ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers: $2.08 billion (1.1%)
7. Liquified propane: $1.97 billion (1.1%)
8. Coal (non-agglomerated, bituminous): $1.81 billion (1%)
9. Colza oilseed, rapeseed (low erucic acid): $1.76 billion (1%)
10. Petroleum bitumen: $1.5 billion (0.8%)
11. Crude canola/colza oil (low erucic acid): $1.4 billion (0.8%)
12. Ethylene glycol (ethanediol): $1.24 billion (0.7%)
13. Oil-cake, other solid residues from canola/colza seeds: $1.12 million (0.6%)
14. Sawn or chipped evergreen lumber: $1.05 million (0.6%)
15. Miscellaneous cattle: $991.9 million (0.5%)

Alberta’s top 15 exports accounted for 83.1% of the overall value of the province’s global shipments.

Low erucic acid crude canola and colza oil represents the fastest grower among Alberta’s top 15 export products, up by 42.4% from 2022 to 2023.

In second place for improving export sales was Albertan miscellaneous cattle via an 18.8% expansion.

Alberta’s shipments of wheat excluding durum recorded the third-fastest gain in value up by 17% ahead of exported fresh or chilled boneless beef cuts (up 16.8%).

The severest decliners among Alberta’s top export products were natural gas in gaseous state dragged down by a -52.6% drop year over year and liquified propane (down -50.5%).

More Key Facts about Alberta’s International Trade

Overall, Alberta earned a CDN$140.2 billion surplus exporting and importing products during 2023. That dollar amount reflects a -14.6% year-over-year drop from $164.1 billion in black ink for 2022.

Another way of saying surplus or deficit is positive or negative net exports. In a nutshell, the term “net exports” quantifies the amount by which foreign spending on a province’s goods or services exceeds or lags that same province’s spending on imported foreign goods or services.

Below are Alberta’s top 10 import products highlighting the province’s highest spending on foreign-origin goods in 2023.

1. Light petroleum oils: CDN$8.4 billion (20.4% of Alberta’s total imports)
2. Large aircraft: $1.09 billion (2.6%)
3. Crude petroleum oils: $1.07 billion (2.6%)
4. Miscellaneous petroleum oils: $632.5 million (1.5%)
5. Wind-powered electric generating sets: $585.5 million (1.4%)
6. Ethanol (denatured): $496 million (1.2%)
7. Liquor: $453.1 million (1.1%)
8. Modems, similar reception/transmission devices: $425.1 million (1%)
9. Taps, valves, similar appliances: $417.5 million (1%)
10. Grape wines excluding sparkling varieties: $350.7 million (0.9%)

Surpassing outflows for the above imports, Alberta has highly positive net exports in the international trade of crude oil and natural gas. In turn, these cashflows indicate Alberta’s competitive advantages under related product categories.

Alberta’s Major Trade Partners

The following list shows the top 10 customers that purchased 96.4% worth of the total value of products exported from the province of Alberta during 2023.

1. United States: CDN$162.2 billion (89.4% of Alberta’s total exports)
2. mainland China: $5.5 billion (3%)
3. Japan: $2.9 billion (1.6%)
4. South Korea: $943.1 million (0.5%)
5. Mexico: $923.8 million (0.5%)
6. Netherlands: $646.9 million (0.4%)
7. Panama: $472.9 million (0.3%)
8. Indonesia: $470.8 million (0.3%)
9. Peru: $465.6 million (0.3%)
10. India: $335 million (0.2%)

Alberta’s trade partners in North America (United States and Mexico) bought 89.9% of the overall value of export sales for The Energy Province during 2023.

Albertan Export Companies

Below are some of Canada’s largest businesses that are involved in international trade either directly or indirectly. Their corporate headquarters are in the province of Alberta.

• Canadian Natural Resources (oil and gas)
• Canadian Pacific Railway (transportation)
• Cenovus Energy (oil and gas)
• Enbridge (oil and gas)
• Husky Energy (oil and gas)
• Pembina Pipeline (oil and gas)
• Suncor Energy (oil and gas)
• TC Energy (oil and gas)

Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related products or services which each business manages.
 
Alberta’s capital is Edmonton, nicknamed “The Big E” and “Edmonchuk”. Edmonton also has a wide range of other nicknames.

See also Canada’s Top 10 Exports, Canada’s Top 10 Imports and Top Canadian Trade Balances

Research Sources:
Alberta Government website, Economic Dashboard. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Government of Canada, Trade Data Online, Total exports, Distribution by province. Accessed on September 7, 2024

IBIS World, Alberta – Province Economic Profile. Accessed on September 7, 2024

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 7, 2024

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Statistics Canada, Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Wikipedia, Alberta. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Wikipedia, Flag of Alberta. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Wikipedia, List of largest public companies in Canada by profit. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Wikipedia, List of provincial and territorial nicknames in Canada. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Wikipedia, List of largest companies in Canada. Accessed on September 7, 2024

Wikipedia, Category:Manufacturing companies of Canada. Accessed on September 7, 2024

YCharts, Canada Labour Force Survey Report. Accessed on September 7, 2024