Canada's international travel deficit soars to all-time high in 2006

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's international travel deficit soared to an all-time high in 2006, as spending by Canadians in both the United States and overseas climbed to record levels. The deficit - the difference between spending by Canadians abroad and spending by foreigners in Canada - jumped $1.4 billion to an estimated $7.2 billion in 2006.

The travel deficit has increased every year since 2002, more than quadrupling in the process.

The burgeoning deficit was the result of record spending abroad: Canadian residents spent an estimated $23.6 billion outside the country in 2006, up 6.2 per cent from the previous high in 2005.

Foreigners in Canada spent about $16.4 billion in 2006, a slight decline from the previous year.

Canadian spending abroad has gone up 27.9 since 2001, while there has been little movement in foreign spending in Canada.

Canada's travel deficit with the United States climbed to $4.5 billion in 2006, the highest since the early 1990s when record deficits flirted with the $6-billion mark and well above the 2002 low of $544 million.

© The Canadian Press, 2007