OTTAWA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Significant growth was observed in Canada's merchandise exports and imports in February, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

Exports increased 5.8 percent, while imports rose 4.6 percent. As a result, Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the world widened to 1.4 billion Canadian dollars (1 billion U.S. dollars), the national statistical agency said.

According to the agency, more than half of the growth in total exports was driven by a sharp rise in exports of unwrought gold. Excluding the product group for unwrought gold, exports were up 2.8 percent.

Exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals and their alloys, a category largely composed of unwrought gold, contributed the most to the growth, posting a 68.8 percent increase.

Increased high-value shipments of refined gold, as well as transfers of gold assets in the banking sector, were also observed in February. This increase coincided with a sharp rise in the market price of gold at the end of February.

Imports of computers and computer peripherals increased 41.4 percent, which were mostly responsible for the growth in February, the agency said.

Computer import increase was led by imports of high-value data processing units, or servers, from the United States. These units are generally used for the development of complex cloud systems, according to Statistics Canada. Enditem

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