Sri Lanka GDP Growth Accelerates to 5.1% in Q1

2026-06-15 10:59 By Larissa Caser 1 min. read

Sri Lanka’s economy expanded by 5.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, accelerating from 4.8% growth in the previous quarter.

The services sector grew 3.4%, up from 2.1%, supported by broad-based gains across most subsectors, particularly insurance (22.0%) and IT programming and consultancy (16.1%).

Industrial activity increased 7.2%, compared with 8.1% in the previous quarter, driven mainly by strong growth in construction (16.3%), mining and quarrying (19.5%), and manufacturing (2.8%).

Meanwhile, agricultural activity expanded by 1.1%, slowing from 2.1%, as declines in export-oriented agricultural production partly offset gains in other segments of the sector.

Given the country’s heavy reliance on imported fuel, a fuel rationing was implemented in March, alongside public holidays on Wednesdays, which limit consumption and is likely to dampen economic growth.The IMF, which is supporting the country, expects the economy to slow to 3% in 2026 from 5% in the previous year.



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