NNSL (Aug 16/99) - Statistics Canada has released its first batch of Northwest Territories and Nunavut separate data, reports the GNWT Bureau of Statistics.

The data, for the first five months of 1999, cover retail trade, wholesale trade, restaurant and catering and tavern receipts, and manufacturing shipments.

The numbers suggest the NWT's retail sector is two times that of Nunavut's while the West's wholesale trade sector is five-and-one-half times as big as its neighbour to the east.

Of the $328.1 million in activity -- the total of all four categories from both NWT and Nunavut over the five months -- almost two-and-one-half times the activity occurred in the NWT ($232.6 million compared to $95.5 million).

By comparison, the NWT's population is 1.6 times that of Nunavut, according to estimates (NWT: 41,829, Nunavut: 26,453).

The largest of the four sectors for both territories is retail trade. In the West, retail sales totalled $149.5 million compared to $72.5 million in the East.

Wholesale trade in the West totalled $67.8 million compared to $12.4 million in the East.

In the West, restaurant receipts were $12.7 million compared to $9.5 million. Corresponding manufacturing shipments numbers were $2.6 million and $1.1 million.