Last decade eclipses previous 80 years of growth in Sask.

There are more people calling Saskatchewan home today as the province’s population has seen quite an increase over the last 10 years.

In the second quarter of 2017, 4,376 people moved to the province. In just a year, from July 2016 to July 2017, the population grew by 15,337 people.

Over the last decade, the population in Saskatchewan has grown faster than it has in the last 80 years.

“Saskatchewan continues to attract people looking for opportunity and a welcoming environment to build a career and raise a family,” economy Minister Steven Bonk said in a news release Wednesaday. “We have weathered the worst of the resource downturn and there is much cause for optimism today. These numbers reflect that sentiment.”

Over the last 10 years, the province has gone from a population of 1,002,048 to 1,163,925.

The difference of 161,877 people is similar to adding more than four cities the size of Prince Albert to the province.

It comes after Saskatchewan lost more than 15,000 people from July 1997 to July 2007.

Saskatchewan now has the fifth-highest growth rate among provinces.