The economy of Newfoundland and Labrador is deeply reliant on natural resources. For a long time, the most vital activity of the economy was cod fishing, while fishermen used farming as a supplementary income but poor climate inhibited any significant agricultural progress. Starting in the late 19th century, mineral resource exploitation started to foster economic growth. The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry has the highest GDP out of all industries in the province, having brought in 12.46 billion Canadian dollars in 2021. It is one of the leading provinces in cobalt, nickel, copper production. Furthermore, the extraction industry has the highest labor productivity out of all industries, having added 764.7 Canadian dollars added to the GDP per hour worked in 2021. The total gross domestic product of Newfoundland and Labrador that year was 30.49 billion Canadian dollars, a slight increase from the previous year.
Despite being resource-rich, the overall economy of the province has faced many financial hardships, as it has the highest unemployment rate in the country, which was 10.8 percent in 2022. Additionally, almost 12 percent of their population was considered to be low income in 2020. However, the median annual family income was 85,800 Canadian dollars that same year, which was not the lowest out of all Canadian provinces. Fortunately, it has been steadily increasing since the start of the millennium.
