Northwest Territories: population, economy, jobs, income and prices

Northwest Territories is a territory of Canada, number 12 of 13 by population. The Northwest Territories had an estimated 45,904 residents on 1 July 2026, 0.1% of Canada's population of 41,798,407; 2nd smallest of 13 provinces and territories. Over the previous 12 months it fell by 127 (0.28%), against 0.46% for Canada; the slowest-growing of 13 provinces and territories.

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Northwest Territories: The economy of the Northwest Territories (gross domestic product at market prices) was worth $5.1 billion in 2024, 0.2% of Canada's $3.11 trillion; 2nd smallest of 13 provinces and territories. In current prices it was down 4.2% on 2023.
• Health in Northwest Territories: Life expectancy at birth in the Northwest Territories was 76.29 years in 2022–2024, against 81.65 years for Canada; 2nd lowest of 12 provinces and territories with data. Ten years earlier, in 2012–2014, it was 77.65 years (down 1.36 years).
• Education in Northwest Territories: 57% of adults aged 25 to 64 in the Northwest Territories had a tertiary qualification (a college diploma or university degree) in 2025; 3rd lowest of 13 provinces and territories. The Canadian figure was 64%, and the OECD average was 41% in 2023.
• Poverty and living standards in Northwest Territories: 10.0% of people in the Northwest Territories lived below the Market Basket Measure poverty line, Canada's official poverty line, in 2024 (Statistics Canada advises using this estimate with caution); tied for 3rd lowest of 13 provinces and territories. The Canadian rate was 11.0%. In 2023 the rate in the Northwest Territories was 16.5%.
• Government budget and revenue in Northwest Territories: The territorial government of the Northwest Territories took in $3.1 billion of revenue in the 2024/25 fiscal year (Statistics Canada government finance statistics, reference year 2024), or $69,532 per resident; 2nd highest of 13 provinces and territories per resident. Revenue was $3.0 billion a year earlier.

Official bodies in Northwest Territories

• Government of Northwest Territories

How territorys are governed in Canada

Provinces (10) and territories (3). Elected legislatures; the premier is the leader of the majority. Create, merge and set the powers of municipalities; health, education, roads.

Every tier of government in Canada

Other territories of Canada

• Ontario 16,262,121
• Quebec 9,067,114
• British Columbia 5,710,598
• Alberta 5,101,050
• Manitoba 1,517,379
• Saskatchewan 1,278,402
• Nova Scotia 1,103,419
• New Brunswick 883,522
• Newfoundland and Labrador 552,462
• Prince Edward Island 182,989
• Yukon 50,356
• Nunavut 43,091

Up a level: Canada · government and power in Canada · cities

Sources

• Statistics Canada: Table 11-10-0190-01: Market income, government transfers, total income, income tax and after-tax income by economic family type (Canadian Income Survey; Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d77937164295…)
• Council of the Federation (Canada's Premiers): About Canada's Premiers: members of the Council of the Federation, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 2fe198a47f5f…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 18-10-0004-01: Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract: all-items, food, shelter, transportation), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a99a4ffcbbea…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 18-10-0005-01: Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 5e17cf9acf05…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 36-10-0222-01: Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, provincial and territorial, annual (x 1,000,000), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 438e0832790b…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 36-10-0711-01: Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories (Web Data Service extract: all industries and sectors), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c16d19ffb999…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 14-10-0292-01: Labour force characteristics by territory, three-month moving average, seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 5d029d577723…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 17-10-0009-01: Population estimates, quarterly, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b50bf05150e4…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 14-10-0223-01: Employment and average weekly earnings (including overtime) for all employees by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract: industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fd47541913f5…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0972-01: Health characteristics, two-year period estimates (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 69d18cb0c5d4…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 37-10-0130-01: Educational attainment of the population aged 25 to 64, by age group and gender, Canada, provinces and territories (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 aca527f04949…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0834-01: Food insecurity by economic family type (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 50afb8936fa7…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 10-10-0017-01: Canadian government finance statistics for the provincial and territorial governments (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ced6a105cfe…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0713-01: Infant deaths and mortality rates, by age group (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 7630920ec549…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0140-01: Life expectancy and other elements of the abridged life table, three-year estimates, Prince Edward Island and the territories (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0ab5670868b2…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 11-10-0135-01: Low income statistics by age, gender and economic family type (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 078bc29ff3ff…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.