Sri Lanka Economy - 2004

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 5.2% in 2003. 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.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $73.49 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.2% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,700 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 19.2%
industry: 25.3%
services: 55.5% (2002)

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% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
6.6 million (1998)

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

Unemployment rate:
8% (2003)

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:
7.6% (2003)

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

Oil - imports:
NA

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

Exports:
$5.269 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products

Exports - partners:
US 37.7%, UK 12.6%, Germany 4.3% (2002)

Imports:
$6.626 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
textiles, mineral products, petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment

Imports - partners:
India 13.8%, Hong Kong 8.1%, Singapore 7.2%, Japan 5.9%, South Korea 5%, Taiwan 4.8%, UAE 4.5%, UK 4.3%, China 4.3% (2002)

Debt - external:
$10.1 billion (2003)

Economic aid - recipient:
$577 million (1998)

Currency:
Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)

Currency code:
LKR

Exchange rates:
Sri Lankan rupees per US dollar - 96.52 (2003), 95.66 (2002), 89.38 (2001), 77.01 (2000), 70.64 (1999)