Analysis and Studies - Country Analysis
Sri Lanka: a look at the market
March 28th 2023
Sri Lanka is a tropical island located just below India, consisting of a main island and many smaller ones. The country gained its independency in 1948 and it was known as Ceylon until 1972.
As a matter of fact, in the previous centuries, Sri Lanka has been occupied by various conquerors: the Portuguese in the 16th century, then the Dutch in the 17th century and lastly the British in the following century, which reigned in the colony until 1815.
Sri Lanka has been marked by a long civil war between two different ethnic groups, the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority, which ended only in 2009.
Today, political and economic instability is still persistent, also due to a massive economic crisis in 2022.
The economy of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka owns many mineral resources, but its economy can also count on the production of rice and tea. Tourism is an important industry as well, although it remains sensitive to political instability.
In 2020, Sri Lanka was the biggest exporter of Used Rubber Tires ($294M) of the world. In addition, its top exports are Tea ($1.27B), Women's Undergarments ($518M), Knit Women's Undergarments ($466M), Knit Women's Suits ($447M), and Non-Knit Women's Suits ($446M), exporting mostly to United States ($2.61B), United Kingdom ($922M), India ($740M), Germany ($678M), and Italy ($460M).
The top imports of the country are Refined Petroleum ($1.27B), Light Rubberized Knitted Fabric ($722M), Packaged Medicaments ($413M), Crude Petroleum ($384M), and Broadcasting Equipment ($311M), importing mostly from China ($4.01B), India ($3.32B), United Arab Emirates ($920M), Malaysia ($685M), and Singapore ($648M).
In 2020, Sri Lanka was the number 66 economy in the world in terms of GDP, the number 83 in total exports, and the number 82 in total imports.
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