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| Thomas Storring | Director – Economics and Statistics |
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April 17, 2024
HOUSEHOLD WEALTH, Q4 2023
Household Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth
Canada’s average assets were $1,158,944 in Q4 2023. Nova Scotia’s assets were well below the national average at $765,003. Nova Scotia had the third lowest liabilities at $101,538 per household. As a result, Nova Scotia's net worth came to $663,465 per household. Nova Scotia’s average household wealth was the highest among the Atlantic provinces. British Columbia and Ontario had the highest per household wealth among all provinces while New Brunswick had the lowest net worth per household.
Nova Scotia's net worth increased by 2.2% from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. Canada's household net worth grew 2.3% with allprovinces reporting gainsover the same quarter the previous year. Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Québec reported the fastest gains in net worth. Alberta reported the slowest gains.
Compared to Q4 2022, national assets per household increased by $24,123 while liabilities increased by $2,128, bringing national net worth up by $21,995. Nova Scotia’s assets increased by $17,277 per household while liabilities grew by $2,834 from 2022 Q4 to 2023 Q4, increasing Nova Scotia'snet worth per household by $14,444.
In detailed assets and liabilities Nova Scotians continued to have the highest life insurance and pension assets per household. British Columbia and Ontario had real estate assets far above the national average of $519,300.
The national level for mortgage liabilities in Q4 2023 was $129,792. Nova Scotia mortgage liabilities per household were the second lowest among provinces at $58,610. Other non-mortgage liabilities for Nova Scotia were below national average at $42,928 per household.
Nova Scotia's per household life insurance and pension assets increased by $5,581 from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. Nova Scotia’s other financial assets in Nova Scotia increased by $11,797 over this period. National life insurance/pension assets were up $5,630 per household with gains in all provinces (steepest in Québec) while other national financial assets were up by $20,491 per household with gains in all provinces (led by Saskatchewan)
Nova Scotia’s real estate asset values rose fell by $620 per household from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. Nationally, average real estate assets per household decreased by $2,483 per household with the largest decline in British Columbia.
Nova Scotia's mortgage liabilities rose by $2,387. The national average mortgage liability per household increased by $1,723. Nova Scotia's other liabilities decreased by $446 while the national average over the four quarters increased by $405.
Household net worth grew in every province from Q3 to Q4 2023.
Source:Statistics Canada.Table36-10-0661-01 Distributions of household economic accounts, wealth, Canada, regions and provinces, quarterly (x 1,000,000)
