Sri Lanka
Everything Palanor holds about Sri Lanka, in one place: 55 public signals, what its economy runs on, how often America’s largest companies name it, the news that names it, and Country Posture. Every figure is computed from stored readings and carries its source and date.
AsiaAsia-Pacific
The latest read
- GDP in current U.S. dollars: $108.8 billion (2025); record high since 1990; 1y +9.2%.
- Household consumption, share of GDP: 67.5% of GDP (2025); 31st percentile since 1990; lowest since 2021; 1y −1.82 pts.
- Net exports, share of GDP: -3.87% of GDP (2025); 89th percentile since 1990; lowest since 2021; 1y −1.26 pts.
Country Posture
What Sri Lanka’s economy is doing
Momentum
2025Inputs only. Did not pass the pre-registered back-test: 1996–2009: AUC 0.590 below 0.60; AUC 0.590 below the single-input baseline (0.624); 2010–2022: AUC 0.595 below 0.60; AUC 0.595 below the single-input baseline (0.641).
Inputs
| Real GDP growth | 5.0 |
| Growth against its three-year average | 6.4 |
| Change in unemployment | -0.2 |
| Change in the employment rate | 0.0 |
| Export volume growth | — |
| OECD leading indicator | — |
Resilience
202435Thin buffers
0 = thin buffers · 100 = deep buffers
Moved most by governance (wgi mean) (up) and external debt (up) since the year before.
Inputs
| Interest as a share of revenue (2023) | 79.9 | 2 |
| Budget balance (2023) | -9.2 | 10 |
| Reserves, months of imports | 2.9 | 38 |
| Current account | 1.2 | 80 |
| Governance (WGI mean) | -0.27 | 54 |
| External debt | 58.9 | 32 |
Pressure
2025Inputs only. Did not pass the pre-registered back-test: 1996–2009: AUC 0.657 below the single-input baseline (0.672).
Inputs
| Inflation | -4.8 |
| Change in inflation | -4.3 |
| Currency move against the dollar | -0.4% |
| Conflict deaths per million | 0.0 |
| Political stability | -0.04 |
| Private credit, three-year change | — |
| Bond spread over U.S. Treasuries | — |
Posture describes what an economy is doing; it is not a rating and never ranks countries. Each input is read against the country’s own history and against every other economy that year. An axis shows a score only after passing a back-test fixed before any result was computed. Method and back-test.
Passport reach
Where a Sri Lanka passport opens doors
The share of world GDP, outside Sri Lanka itself, in the economies whose published rules let a holder of this passport in, as of October 2026. Palanor records the rules of destinations holding 88% of world GDP, from each government’s own list, and weights them by World Bank GDP for 2025. Rank is among 199 passports.
Work
13.0%rank 67 of 199
the right to work (free movement in full; treaty and working-holiday routes at half); 0 destinations in full, 1 at half.
Reach is shown here and not weighted into Country Strength: it rewards membership of a free-movement area or a treaty more than the strength of an economy. Entry is always at the border officer’s discretion, and conditions (length of stay, fees, age limits) vary. Method, sources and the full ranking: Passports and citizenship.
Palanor calculation from each destination government's published rules; GDP weights from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0), one year for the whole line, so it moves only when a list changes.
GDP by expenditure
What Sri Lanka’s economy runs on
In 2025, household spending was 67.5% of GDP, government consumption 6.7%, investment 29.6% and net exports -3.9% (exports 19.0%, imports 22.8%).
World Bank national accounts. The parts can miss 100 by a few points (the statistical discrepancy).
Same World Bank definition for every country, so the shares compare directly: What each economy runs on.
IMF World Economic Outlook
The IMF’s outlook for Sri Lanka
The latest year before the October 2026 edition (often still an IMF estimate) and the IMF’s own projections. These are the IMF’s published forecasts, shown as published; Palanor does not project them further.
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 IMF f’cast | 2027 IMF f’cast | 2031 IMF f’cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real GDP growth% | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| Inflation, average consumer prices% | -0.5 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.0 |
| Unemployment rate% of labor force | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| GDP, current US dollarsUS$ bn | 108.9 | 110.7 | 113.1 | 141.5 |
| GDP at purchasing-power parityintl $ bn | 371.2 | 399.0 | 426.7 | 527.6 |
| GDP per person, US dollarsUS$ | 5,004 | 5,062 | 5,149 | 6,314 |
| Current account balance% of GDP | 1.6 | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.7 |
| Government gross debt% of GDP | 96.8 | 95.2 | 91.8 | 82.4 |
| Government overall balance% of GDP | -2.3 | -4.2 | -3.3 | -3.1 |
| Government primary balance% of GDP | 5.4 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Government net interest paid% of GDP · Palanor calc. | 7.6 | 6.5 | 5.9 | 5.7 |
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database (edition on the projection). Dashed: the IMF's published projection.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database (edition on the projection). Dashed: the IMF's published projection.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026. Provided by the IMF “as is” and free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor. Net interest paid is a Palanor calculation: the IMF's primary balance minus its overall balance.
Conflict
Organized violence
News
In the news
- Sri Lanka’s Galgamuwa is on the front line of one of the world’s most serious human-elephant conflicts reut.rs/4hNCKU5
Reuters · Bluesky2026-10-15neutral
- In Sri Lanka, human-elephant conflict takes deadly toll reut.rs/4hXqy1R
Reuters · Bluesky2026-10-14negative · -conflict
- Sri Lanka and IMF discussing options for post-EFF program: Govt.
Marketaux (financial news API)2026-10-10neutral
- Sri Lanka is facing severe drought, leaving reservoirs dry and farming communities struggling.
The Associated Press · Bluesky2026-10-08negative · -drought
- Shiranthi Rajapaksa arrested: What is case against Sri Lanka's ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s wife?
Marketaux (financial news API)2026-10-08neutral · ?question
- World Bank lifts Sri Lanka outlook, says recovery uneven
Marketaux (financial news API)2026-10-07positive · +recovery
Headlines that name Sri Lanka, matched by name with fixed rules (a wrong match is worse than a missing one). Tone is read from each headline’s own words; no model reads or summarizes an article, and other publishers’ stories link out.
Company graph
Companies headquartered in Sri Lanka
Palanor’s company graph holds 8 entities headquartered here (GLEIF headquarters address, else legal address).
Signals
Every series about Sri Lanka
Grouped by theme, the most-read first. All 55 in the Library.
Growth and output1
- Sri Lanka · GDP · USD bn (current)record high since 1990; 1y +9.2%$108.8bn2025
Trade and capital flows1
- Sri Lanka · Net International Investment Position, % of GDP (IMF)88th percentile since 2011; highest since 2011; 1y +4.99 pts-46.8% of GDP2025
Energy and resources3
- Natural Graphite Mine Production Share: Sri Lanka17th percentile since 2017; lowest since 2022; 1y −0.015 pts0.18%2025
- Natural Graphite Mine Production: Sri Lanka50th percentile since 2017; highest since 2020; 1y +6.7%3,200 metric tons2025
- Natural Graphite Reserves: Sri Lanka1y unchanged1,500,000 metric tons2025
Conflict and geopolitics2 of 6
- Sri Lanka · Organized-Violence Deaths (UCDP, annual)record low since 1989; 1y unchanged0 deaths2025
- Sri Lanka · State-Based Conflict Deaths (UCDP, annual)record low since 1989; 1y unchanged0 deaths2025
Migration1 of 3
- U.S.-Born People Living in Sri Lanka (UN)record high since 1990620 people2024
AI stance and technology4
- AI User Share: Sri Lanka (Microsoft AI Diffusion)1y +1.40 pts7.6% of people aged 15-642026-06-30
- AI Optimism Lean · Sri Lanka (Pew)50%2026
- More Concerned Than Excited About AI · Sri Lanka (Pew)8%2026
- More Excited Than Concerned About AI · Sri Lanka (Pew)8%2026
Climate and the physical world2 of 4
More about this country3
- Sri Lanka · Exchange Rate per US Dollar (IMF)99th percentile since Jan 1957; highest since Feb 2023; 1y +11.6%336 per USD2026-07-01
- Sri Lanka · IMF Credit Outstanding · USD bn (IMF)100th percentile since Apr 1961; 1y +29.4%$3bn2026-09-01
- Sri Lanka · IMF Credit Outstanding, % of GDP51st percentile since 1980; highest since 2013; 1y +0.564 pts2.23% of GDP2025
Peers
Elsewhere in Asia
Alphabetical. Palanor does not rank countries.
AfghanistanArmeniaAzerbaijanBahrainBangladeshBhutanBruneiCambodiaChinaCyprusGeorgiaHong KongIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIsraelJapanJordanKazakhstanKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLebanonMacaoMalaysiaMaldivesMongoliaMyanmarNepalNorth KoreaOmanPakistanPalestinePhilippinesQatarSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth KoreaSyriaTaiwanTajikistanThailandTimor-LesteTürkiyeTurkmenistanUnited Arab EmiratesUzbekistanVietnamYemen