Contributions to RRSPs totalled $39.2 billion in 2015, up 1.5% from 2014, Statistics Canada announced on Friday.

Although the number of contributors remains static at about 6 million, according to tax returns filed for 2015, the percentage of taxpayers who contribute to an RRSP continues to decline, reflecting the increase in population.

For the 2015 tax year, just 22.9% of taxpayers made a contribution, down from 23.0% in 2014. This downward trend has been ongoing for the last 15 years, StatsCan says, declining from 29.1% in 2000, to 26.3% in 2005, and 24.3% in 2010.

Nationally, the median contribution remained unchanged in 2015 at about $3,000. Contributors in Nunavut made the highest median contribution ($4,000), followed by Alberta ($3,440), and British Columbia ($3,330). Manitoba had the lowest median contribution of $2,300.

Separately, StatsCan announced that the number of Canadian taxpayers who reported investment income in 2015 was down from the previous year, although the actual amount of investment income rose.

Just under 7.5 million taxpayers reported income from investments in 2015, StatsCan says, down 2.4% from 2014; the proportion who reported investment income declined from 29.6% in 2014 to 28.6% in 2015.

However, there was a significant increase in the amount of investment income reported in 2015, StatsCan says, as investment income increased by 18.2% to $81.6 billion. StatsCan attributes the big jump to dividend-paying stocks, which recorded strong market performance during the year.

While not nearly as dramatic as the overall increase in investment income, StatsCan says that median investment income increased, too, rising from $620 in 2014 to $660 in 2015.