Canadian Industrial Product Price Index and Raw Materials Price Index Both Decline in May
Industrial product and raw materials price indexes, May 2023
Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported Monday (6-19-23) that prices of products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), declined 1.0% month-over-month in May, following a 0.6% decline in April. Year-over-year, prices were 6.3% lower. This marks the largest year-over-year decline since October 2009 when a 6.5% loss was recorded.
Leading the monthly decline were the prices for energy and petroleum products, which declined 5.9% during the month. The price of energy and petroleum products have now dropped for four consecutive months.
The prices of raw materials purchased by manufacturers operating in Canada, as measured by the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), decreased 4.9% month-over-month in May and have declined 18.4% year-over-year.
In May, declining prices for crude energy products—down 9.3%—were mainly responsible for the monthly decline in the RMPI. Year-over-year, crude energy prices were 32.9% lower. Excluding crude energy products, the RMPI decreased 2.2% in May.
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