Sri Lanka Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2003, plantation crops made up only 15% of exports (compared with 93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% in the early 1990s until a drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to 3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-2000 with average growth of 5.3%, but 2001 saw the first contraction in the country's history, -1.4%, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife. Growth recovered to 4.0% in 2002 and to 5.2% in both 2003 and 2004. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home about $1 billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for a largely independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took nearly 40,000 lives in Sri Lanka and caused massive destruction of property.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $80.58 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.2% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 19.1%
industry: 26.2%
services: 54.7% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
7.26 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 38%, industry 17%, services 45% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate:
7.8% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
22% (1997 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.5%
highest 10%: 28% (1995)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
34.4 (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.8% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
22.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3.34 billion
expenditures: $4.686 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt:
104.3% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef

Industries:
rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; telecommunications, insurance, and banking; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco

Industrial production growth rate:
7.1% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.697 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
6.228 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
75,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Current account balance:
$-587.3 million (2004 est.)

Exports:
$5.306 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
textiles and apparel; tea and spices; diamonds, emeralds, rubies; coconut products; rubber manufactures, fish

Exports - partners:
US 31%, UK 12.9%, India 5.1%, Belgium 4.9%, Germany 4.9% (2004)

Imports:
$7.265 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
textile fabrics, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and transportation equipment

Imports - partners:
India 14%, Singapore 8%, China 7.6%, Hong Kong 5.9%, Malaysia 4.6%, Japan 4.6% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.475 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$10.85 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$577 million (1998)

Currency (code):
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)

Exchange rates:
Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 101.194 (2004), 96.521 (2003), 95.662 (2002), 89.383 (2001), 77.005 (2000)