Sri Lanka records $ 884 million in exports in May 2021

The performance of Sri Lanka’s export sector managed to manage its growth momentum in May 2021 with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to statistics released by Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in May 2021 amounted to US $ 884.2 million, an increase of 50.71% from US $ 586.7 million US in May 2020.

Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in January-May 2021 amounted to US $ 4,583.56 million, an increase of 32.61% from US $ 3,456.32 million in January-May 2020.

Export performance of goods Values in US $ millions

Merchandise exports	january-may 2019	january-may 2020	january-may 2021	% growth (20-21)	May 2020	May 2021	% growth (20-21)
Clothing	2 248.68	1,534.61	2,064.17	34.51	218.83	370.87	69.48
Tea	571.77	456.72	526.62	3:30 p.m.	108.28	109.23	0.88
Rubber products	376.33	280.31	424.47	51.43	51.19	91.18	78.12
Coconut products	259.50	216.63	317.19	46.42	51.80	66.71	28.78
Electronics and electronic components	162.26	113.07	164.28	45.29	21.66	35.19	62.47
Spices and concentrates	119.65	82.77	162.01	95.74	19.29	25.24	30.84
Food and drinks	158.57	124.70	147.66	18.41	23.88	30.23	26.59
Diamonds, precious stones and jewelry	134.50	61.04	107.04	75.36	6.61	14.19	114.67
Seafood	122.18	74.79	90.60	21.14	11.53	15.05	30.53
Ornamental fish	6.91	4.40	5.94	35.00	0.46	0.90	95.65
Other export crops	11.82	29.85	23.53	-21.17	5.08	4.53	-10.83
Vegetables	13.53	9.66	9.57	-0.93	1.75	1.74	-0.57
Fruits	17.97	14.19	14.82	4.44	2.83	2.84	0.35
Flowers & Foliage	8.36	5.16	5.69	10.27	0.80	0.94	17.50
Boat building	2.86	1.33	1.48	11.28	0.42	0.53	26.19
Oil products	133.45	141.01	51.12	-63.75	27.07	27.71	2.36
Other	497.38	306.08	467.37	52.70	35.22	87.14	147.42
Total merchandise exports	4 845.72	3456.32	4,583.56	32.61	586.70	884.22	50.71

Top 10 export destinations

	Country	january-may 2020	january-may 2021	% growth (20-21)	May 2020	May 2021	% growth (20-21)
1	United States	905.10	1,133.71	25.26	145.51	213.11	46.46
2	UK	296.21	366.53	23.74	42.56	72.29	69.85
3	India	220.53	302.63	37.23	38.08	55.28	45.17
4	Germany	195.85	286.00	46.03	35.63	53.80	51.00
5	Italy	135.66	226.02	66.61	09/18	40.45	123.60
6	Belgium	94.35	132.18	40.10	15.65	26.71	70.67
7	Netherlands	88.16	162.10	83.87	16.56	27.11	63.71
8	China	71.21	116.96	64.25	12.96	20.91	61.34
9	Canada	71.92	114.98	59.87	12.73	20.47	60.80
ten	turkey	68.27	81.43	19.28	15.72	15.98	1.65
	Other markets	1 309.07	1,661.04	26.89	233.21	338.11	44.98
	Total merchandise exports	3456.32	4583.56	32.61	586.70	884.22	50.71

Export regions

Region	january-may 2020	january-may 2021	% growth (20-21)	May 2020	May 2021	% growth (20-21)
EU excluding UK	741.95	1,135.99	53.11	128.84	210.05	63.03
United States	905.10	1,133.71	25.26	145.51	213.11	46.46
South Asia	333.13	455.88	36.85	50.58	94.87	87.56
ASEAN countries	80.79	123.63	53.03	14.94	23.58	57.83
CIS countries	118.30	112.52	-4.89	16.60	22.94	38.19
African countries	102.96	102.58	-0.37	22.99	20.01	-12.96
Middle Eastern countries (excluding Cyprus and Egypt)	278.86	310.32	11.28	62.14	66.39	6.84
Other	895.23	1 208.93	35.04	145.10	233.27	60.76
Total merchandise exports	3456.32	4583.56	32.61	586.70	884.22	50.71

Export of services

EDB’s estimated service exports which include ICT / BPM, construction, financial services, and transportation and logistics show exports of US $ 1,194.3 million for the period January to April 2021, compared to 1,021 , US $ 9 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.

Estimated service exports increased by 16.87% in the first four months of 2021 compared to the corresponding period of 2020.