Almost $50 billion. That’s how much revenue Saskatchewan industry generated in exports markets last year.
It’s a big number but, interestingly, not a record. We set that a couple years ago when the provincial economy earned $53 billion in export revenues.
This province has always stood out as an exporter. We have a large land base and small but productive population. In other words, not much of a consumer market meaning we produce far more than we can utilize so we have to find a home for that output beyond our borders. We usually say about 70 per cent of Saskatchewan’s economy is based on trade and it is one of the reasons we tend to move in a different direction than provinces such as Ontario which rely on domestic consumption.
On a per capita basis, last year’s $49 billion in exports worked out to $40,000 a person. Compare that to $18,000 for the entire country which ranks number one among the industrialized countries and you see why Saskatchewan – and the person we see in the mirror each morning – are the world’s most successful global traders.
