Consumer Spending in Canada: Insightful Statistics & Facts

As spending trends and consumer behaviour changes due to innovation and external factors like economic stress, we wanted to take a deeper look into the Canadian market and examine how all these factors impact the citizens today.

Quick Canada Spending Statistics for 2025 - Editor's Choice

• Consumer spending in Canada gew to $1.4 trillion in 2024.
• Personal spending on food services and drinking places subsector grew to $8.1 billion in 2024.
• Canada ranks 22nd among the world’s most expensive countries in 2025.
• Visits to food banks in Canada have increased by 90% since 2019.
• In 2024, 65% of Canadians felt worse off due to higher inflation.

Canadian consumer credit has increased to $774.608 million in 2024.

(Trading Economics)

Consumer credit experienced a significant rise over the past year, growing from $748 million in January.

Consumer spending in Canada gew to $1.4 trillion in 2024.

(IBIS World)

This represented a rise from $1.36 trillion the year before. Consumer spending is expected to increase by an additional 1.5% in 2025.

Personal savings in Canada grew to 7.1% per household in 2024..

(Trading Economics)

The savings rate is slowly continuing to grow despite economic struggles.

Salaries for the Canadian workforce will increase by 3.4% in 2025.

(Normandin Beaudry)

By the end of 2024, the average salaries increased by 3.6%.

Inflation grew by 1.9% by the end of 2024 in Canada.

(Statistics Canada)

While the record inflation of 8.1% in 2022 is significantly down, the effects of the economic downturn still reverberate across the Canadian consumer population.

A family in Canada is projected to spend $16,833 on food in 2025.

(UBC News)

The newest projections see Canadian families spending around $801 more on food over this year.

Personal spending on food services and drinking places subsector grew to $8.1 billion in 2024.

(Statista)

This represent a record high, and a 0.3% increase compared to the year before.

83% of Canadians expect higher inflation for food in the future.

(TD Economics, Ipsos)

83% of Canadian citizens have concerning expectations over the impact of inflation on their grocery budgets. The expected rise in food, rent, and gas prices is among their primary concerns. 

Findings suggest that various groups within Canadian society have different financial priorities and concerns. Lower-income individuals and older people tend to be more worried about the costs of groceries and rent. 

Meanwhile, younger people are generally more concerned about house prices, which makes sense, as millennials can expect to pay a third more for their homes than older generations.

A typical Canadian spends tens of thousands of dollars per year.

(CurrencyFair)

Research estimates that the average monthly costs of a single person on goods and services are $3,428. On the other hand, a family of four spends $6,217 per month, coming down to $1,554 per person, which is over 50% less than what a single Canadian needs to make it through the month.

So the math shows that the annual expenditures are:

• $41,136 for a single person
• $18,651 for a family member (out of four) 

Canada ranks 22nd among the world’s most expensive countries in 2025. 

(Numbeo)

Additionally, Canada is ranked the 15th most expensive country in the world when it comes to groceries.

In 2024, 65% of Canadians felt worse off due to higher inflation.

(Bank of Canada)

What's more alarming is that only 1% of Canadians felt better off than before.

28% of Canadians are resorting to reduced food consumption due to higher prices.

(UBC News)

Additionally, 48.2% of Canadians are now seeking discounts and sales before making a purchase.