After contracting by 3.6% in 2020, reviving domestic demand and exports drove  growth up by 3.7% in 2021. Services grew by 3.0%, industry by 5.3%, and agriculture by 2.0%. The economic recovery, however, has been significantly affected by fiscal and monetary macroeconomic issues, apart from persistent COVID-19 restrictions. Private consumption rose by 7.5% in the first 9 months of 2021 from a low 2020 base, while government consumption increased by 2.2%, mostly to contain the pandemic. The Colombo consumer price index averaged 6.0% in 2021, up from 4.6% in 2020, accelerating to 15.1% year-on-year in February 2022. Stymied by a large debt overhang, fiscal and external financing needs, and double-digit inflation, among others, GDP growth is expected to slow to 2.4% in 2022 before rising slightly to 2.5% in 2023. 
Source: Asian Development Outlook 2022.
Latest Month-Ago Year-Ago
Composite Stock Price Index 1 11.0 (Aug23)10.0 8.0
Broad Money Growth 2 8.1 (Jul23)8.1 8.2
Headline Inflation Rate 3 49.2 (Mar23)53.6 21.8
Industrial/ Manufacturing Production Growth Rate 3 -6.6 (Jun23)-3.1 -0.9
Merchandise Export Growth 3 -13.2 (Jul23)-13.2 -20.4
Exchange Rate Index 4 314.1 (Aug23)312.6 354.4
1 Monthly average, local index.
2 %.
3 y-o-y, %.
4 Monthly average, January 2006 = 100, $/local currency.
Source: Bloomberg LP; CEIC database; Department of Census and Statistics; ; Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

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