|
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. By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% 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 3.2% in 2002. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% in the Middle East. They send home about $1 billion a year.
|
|
GDP:
|
purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (2002 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
3.2% (2002 est.)
|
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2002 est.)
|
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 20%
industry: 26%
services: 54% (2001)
|
|
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):
|
9.6% (2002 est.)
|
|
Labor force:
|
6.6 million (1998)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
services 45%, agriculture 38%, industry 17% (1998 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate:
|
8% (2002)
|
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $2.8 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
|
|
Industries:
|
rubber processing, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco
|
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
1.1% (2002)
|
|
Electricity - production:
|
6.36 billion kWh (2001)
|
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil fuel: 51.7%
hydro: 48.3%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
|
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
5.915 billion kWh (2001)
|
|
Electricity - exports:
|
0 kWh (2001)
|
|
Electricity - imports:
|
0 kWh (2001)
|
|
Oil - production:
|
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption:
|
75,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports:
|
NA (2001)
|
|
Oil - imports:
|
NA (2001)
|
|
Agriculture - products:
|
rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef
|
|
Exports:
|
$4.6 billion f.o.b. (2002)
|
|
Exports - commodities:
|
textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products
|
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 39.1%, UK 12.9%, Belgium 4.7%, Germany 4.5% (2002)
|
|
Imports:
|
$5.4 billion f.o.b. (2002)
|
|
Imports - commodities:
|
textiles, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment
|
|
Imports - partners:
|
India 11%, Hong Kong 7.6%, Singapore 7.1%, China 6.3%, Taiwan 5.9%, South Korea 5.7%, Japan 5.3%, Iran 4.2% (2002)
|
|
Debt - external:
|
$9.8 billion (2002)
|
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$577 million (1998)
|
|
Currency:
|
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
|
|
Currency code:
|
LKR
|
|
Exchange rates:
|
Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 95.66 (2002), 89.38 (2001), 77.01 (2000), 70.64 (1999), 64.45 (1998)
|
|
Fiscal year:
|
calendar year
|
