Measured by how fast output per person is growing, Canada is last in the G7. Real GDP per capita rose just 1.1% in total across the entire decade 2014–2024 — a near-flat result hidden, until recently, by a headline GDP number that was inflated almost entirely by population growth.
Related metrics. This is one part of the cost-of-living and living-standards picture. See also:
Canada's level of GDP per capita is comfortably mid-pack — roughly third in the G7 on a purchasing-power basis. So the problem this metric tracks is not where Canada starts, but where it is going. On the rate of growth in output per person — the measure that actually tracks rising living standards — Canada has been the weakest economy in the G7, and one of the weakest in the developed world, for a decade.
Real GDP per capita growth, 2014–2024
+1.1%
Total, over the whole decade. Last in the G7 — about a quarter of next-worst Germany (+4.4%).
Share of GDP growth from population, 2014–2023
84.9%
Highest in the G7. Most measured "growth" was simply more people — not more output per person.
Canada's GDP-per-capita level in the G7
3rd of 7
The level is respectable; the trajectory is not. This page leads on growth for that reason.
Last in the G7 on growth
Over 2014–2024, real GDP per capita — output per person, stripped of inflation — rose only 1.1% in Canada. That is dead last among the seven G7 economies, and barely a quarter of the next-worst performer, Germany. The G7, EU, and OECD as a whole each grew about 15% over the same period. Across all 38 advanced economies in the dataset, only Luxembourg grew less than Canada.
Real GDP per capita growth, total % change 2014–2024 — G7
Source: OECD per-capita output volumes (seasonally adjusted, indexed to 2007), via Visual Capitalist / Voronoi, "Ranked: Real GDP Per Capita Growth by Country (2014–2024)," 7 Apr 2025. G7/EU/OECD aggregates ~15% (weighted, US-dominated; not the simple mean of the seven members). An alternative OECD PPP-basis series puts Canada at +3.2% over the same period — same direction, same near-bottom rank.
How the headline hid it: more people, not more output
Canada's total economy did not look weak. Real GDP grew about 17% over the decade — the second-fastest aggregate growth in the G7, behind only the United States. But GDP is a fraction: total output on top, population on the bottom. When the denominator swells, the topline can rise briskly even as output per person stalls.
That is exactly what happened. The gap between Canada's +17% total GDP and its +1.1% per person — roughly sixteen percentage points — is population growth, and Canada's population grew faster than any other G7 country's. Rapid, immigration-driven population growth inflated the numerator and, for years, masked the weakest per-capita growth in the group. Over 2014–2023, 84.9% of all of Canada's GDP growth came simply from having more people — the highest share in the G7, and 42 points more than the second-place United Kingdom.
Canada, real cumulative growth 2014–2024 (%) — total output vs. output per person
Source: OECD / Visual Capitalist (real GDP ~17%; real GDP per capita +1.1%). The population bar is the implied wedge (total minus per-capita, ~15.9 pts); Statistics Canada records population growth of 13.2% over 2014–2023. See companion workbook, tab 02.
Why this matters. Output per person is the figure that tracks living standards, wages, and the tax base that funds public services. A bigger population raises total GDP but not, by itself, prosperity. Counting "more people" as "more growth" is what let a decade of stagnation in per-person output go unremarked.
Findings
Finding 1
Weakest in the G7
Real GDP per capita grew just 1.1% in total over 2014–2024 — last of the seven G7 economies, against roughly 15% for the G7, EU, and OECD as a whole. Only Luxembourg grew less among 38 advanced economies.
Finding 2
The numerator was inflated by immigration
Total real GDP rose ~17% (2nd-fastest in the G7), but output per person only 1.1%. The ~16-point wedge is population growth. Over 2014–2023, 84.9% of GDP growth was just more people — the highest share in the G7 — which is what hid the weakest per-capita growth in the group.
Finding 3
A recent, policy-driven break
Before 2014, Canada grew per capita ~0.9%/yr — on par with the US (0.8%) and OECD (0.9%). The divergence tracks deliberate admissions choices: permanent immigration ~260k→~500k/yr, temporary residents under 1M→~3M. Abundant labour blunted the incentive to invest in capital per worker — a major driver, though not the sole cause.
Finding 4
The level is fine — that's the point
Canada is still ~3rd in the G7 on PPP level and 19th of 38 in the OECD (down from 17th in 2014), having slipped from 83.1% to 71.4% of US GDP per capita and below the OECD average for the first time on record. A respectable starting point; a poor trajectory.
For further consideration: all provinces vs. all states
The same stagnation shows up sharply at a finer grain. Ranking all 60 North American jurisdictions — 50 US states and 10 Canadian provinces — on GDP per capita, eight of Canada's ten provinces fall in the bottom third. Only the resource economies of Alberta (20th) and Saskatchewan (26th) reach the top half. Ontario sits 48th, poorer per person than 43 states; Quebec 55th, ahead of only Mississippi; and New Brunswick ranks last of all 60.
This is offered as supporting context, not the headline: it is a level comparison, and it reinforces the same conclusion the growth data reach — that Canada's output per person has fallen behind its North American peers. The figures reconstruct economist Trevor Tombe's 2024 ranking and reproduce its published anchors (Ontario 48th, Quebec 55th, 43 states above Ontario).
GDP per capita, 2024 (US$ thousands) — all 50 US states and 10 Canadian provinces
Reconstruction after Trevor Tombe / The Hub, "Ontario and Quebec are poorer than Louisiana and 42 other states," 12 Nov 2025. US states: nominal GDP per capita (US BEA, via Visual Capitalist), scaled to 2024 to match Tombe's published state anchors. Provinces: Tombe's six published USD values; Nova Scotia, PEI, and New Brunswick converted from Statistics Canada / Alberta Economic Dashboard real GDP per capita using the CAD→USD factor implied by the six anchors (~1.19); Newfoundland & Labrador positioned at Tombe's published 45th rank (its chained-dollar series understates its oil-driven output). Provinces converted to US dollars at purchasing-power parity; states shown in nominal USD — matching Tombe's method. Ranks out of 60 (territories and Washington D.C. excluded). Benchmark Canada reconstruction: Saskatchewan and Newfoundland land within one rank of Tombe's published figures; the NS/PEI order is within estimation noise.
Province
GDP per capita 2024 (US$, PPP)
Rank of 60
Alberta
$84,700
20
Saskatchewan
$79,300
26
Newfoundland & Labrador
~$66,900
44
British Columbia
$66,400
46
Ontario
$65,000
48
Quebec
$60,100
55
Manitoba
$56,500
56
Nova Scotia
~$51,200
58
Prince Edward Island
~$50,900
59
New Brunswick
~$50,100
60
Highest US states for reference: New York ~$116,900, Massachusetts ~$109,100, Washington ~$107,600. Values with "~" are Benchmark Canada reconstructions (see source note); the six unmarked provinces are Tombe's published figures.
Definitions. "Real GDP per capita growth" is the total inflation-adjusted change in output per person over 2014–2024. The headline series (Canada +1.1%) uses OECD per-capita output volumes, seasonally adjusted and indexed to 2007. "Level" is GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (constant 2021 international $).
Comparability. Two valid per-capita-growth measures exist and differ in magnitude but not direction: the OECD volume-index basis (Canada +1.1%) and the OECD PPP basis (Canada +3.2%, 0.4%/yr, 3rd-lowest of 38). The headline uses the volume-index basis to match the single cross-country source. The "~15%" G7/EU/OECD figures are weighted aggregates dominated by the US, not the simple average of the seven G7 members (~8.6%); the chart therefore shows the seven members individually.
The decomposition. Total real GDP (~17%) minus real GDP per capita (+1.1%) gives the implied population wedge (~16 pts). This is cross-checked against Statistics Canada's recorded population growth of 13.2% (2014–2023); the small difference reflects the slightly different endpoints. Immigration is presented as the major driver of the denominator, not as the sole cause of weak productivity — declining business investment, capital shallowing, low R&D, and emigration of high earners also contribute.
Province vs. state comparison. Supplementary level comparison (not the headline). Tombe's 60-jurisdiction ranking adjusts each state and province for purchasing power (cost of living and the USD exchange rate); ranks are out of 60 with territories excluded. Four provinces (NL, PEI, NS, NB) rank below Manitoba but their dollar values are not published, so the chart shows only the six provinces with reported figures plus New York as the US ceiling.
Companion workbook. The editable series live in Elevating_GDP-Per-Capita-Growth_Data.xlsx: G7 growth, the Canada decomposition, population & immigration, level context, province-vs-state, sources, and caveats.
Page last reviewed June 2026 · Data current to 2024 — the latest OECD per-capita output volumes