Saskatchewan's economy shrank 1.4 per cent last year, making it one of three provinces to experience negative growth in 2015.

The contraction followed a gross domestic product increase of 1.6 per cent in 2014.

Lower oil prices leading to a big decline in construction played a significant role in the drop, according to a report from Statistics Canada.



Construction fell 19 per cent. The figure included a significant drop in oil and gas engineering construction, the federal statistics agency said in the report released Thursday.

While crop production increased (1.7 per cent), there was a decline in animal production (19 per cent) and manufacturing output (2.8 per cent).

The other provinces that saw a decline in real GDP were Alberta (4 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (2.2 per cent).

Saskatchewan's 2015 decline was worse than what at least one of the big banks was forecasting last fall.

Nationally, real GDP rose by 0.9 per cent last year.