B.C. retail sales are set to grow faster than every other Canadian province in 2010, except Nova Scotia, according to a study released Friday by Toronto-based KubasPrimedia.
B.C. will then top the country for retail sales growth in 2011, according to the research organization.
KubasPrimedia expects B.C. retail sales to grow 6% to $58.5 billion in 2010. Metro Vancouver retail sales are expected to get an even bigger 6.2% boost to 33.1 billion. Nationwide, retail sales are expected to grow 4.8% to $435.4 billion in 2010.
Retail sales growth in B.C. will slow slightly, to 5.9%, in 2011, the research organization projects. Ontario is the only other province expected to have retail sales grow more than 5% in 2011.
“Nothing in the outlook at this point indicates a significant recovery in 2011,” the report warns.
Retail sales growth took a break in 2009, when every province except New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland saw declines.
In B.C., retail sales fell 4.4% in 2009. That was a steeper decline than the average 2.9% slip for Canada as a whole.
The product categories KubasPrimedia expects to grow sales the fastest in 2010 nationwide are: