Alberta Activity Index

Current issue date

The Alberta Activity Index was updated on September 30, 2020 to include July 2020 data.

The recovery in provincial economic activity continued amid broad-based improvements.
The Alberta Activity Index (AAX) increased 4.3% month-over-month in July, its second consecutive monthly gain.
All components saw increases, led by general business activity which was largely driven by a strong rebound in new truck sales. A pick-up in housing starts and retail sales also lifted activity in the household sector, which is now back to February levels. Meanwhile, activity in the energy sector grew for the first time since January as a rebound in rigs drilling offset a maintenance-related decline in oil production.
With the strong back-to-back gains, the AAX has now recovered 50% of the losses incurred during the pandemic lows but remains 6.5% below its February level.
Overall, the index was down 6.8% in July compared to last year. On a year-to-date basis, activity remained down 7.2%.

Chart: Year-over-year change in Alberta Activity Index and real GDP
(to July 2020)

Source: Alberta Treasury Board and Finance

The following file is available in the Open Government Portal:

Developed by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, the Alberta Activity Index (AAX) is a weighted average of 9 monthly indicators:

For more information on the AAX, please see the Introducing the Alberta Activity Index inFocus from the April 2017 Economic Trends (PDF, 281 KB).

Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Economist
Alberta Treasury Board and Finance
Phone: 780-644-0021
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: siddhartha.bhattacharya@gov.ab.ca