Statistics Canada is reporting that Saskatchewan had a strong start to 2021 in export numbers.

Monthly merchandise export numbers released this week show the province saw a large increase in year-over-year exports in January. An increase that totalled 14.6 percent when compared to January of 2020, and totalled $2.7 billion in export sales for January.

Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison says Saskatchewan continues to have what the world needs even through an unprecedented period of global economic upheaval, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attributing to the increase were large gains seen in farm and intermediate food products, forestry products, building and packaging materials, industrial machinery, equipment and parts, and metal ores and non-metallic minerals.

Saskatchewan ranked second in percentage change among the provinces on a seasonally adjusted basis, an increase well above the national average of a 1% decrease.