OTTAWA -
Household net worth retreated for the second straight quarter, declining $252 billion, or 4.4 per cent, in the fourth quarter as stock market prices continued to fall.
Statistics Canada reports that on a per-capita basis, household net worth fell to $165,300 in the fourth quarter of 2008 from $179,300 in the second, a $14,000 decrease.
The agency notes that Canadian and international equity markets retreated further over the quarter, with the Standard and Poor's-Toronto Stock Exchange composite index closing in December at 8,988, down 24 per cent from the previous quarter.
In comparison, household net worth in the United States fell nine per cent in the fourth quarter, the Americans' sixth straight quarterly decline.
The total value of household assets in Canada fell 3.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, while they fell 7.6 per cent in the United States.
Credit market debt of the Canadian household sector grew 1.7 per cent and reached $1.3 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, a smaller increase than the growth of 2.4 per cent in the previous quarter, largely because mortgage borrowing slowed.
Total household liabilities relative to net worth edged up during the quarter. Households had 24.5 cents of debt for every dollar of net worth.
