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Sri Lanka is mainly an agricultural country. The chief crop is rice with which the country is almost self sufficient. Tea, rubber and coconut are also important agricultural crops, with tea being a major foreign exchange earner. In addition, other crops of importance are cocoa and spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, pepper and cloves. Fruit and vegetables, native to both tropical and temperate regions, grow well in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is also a major exporter of precious and semi-precious stones. Within the last few years remittances from Sri Lankans employed abroad have contributed a large share towards foreign exchange.

The last three decades have seen tourism emerge as an important industry. There has also been a rapid growth in manufacturing industries which offer a wide range of export goods such as petroleum products, leather goods, ready made garments and electronic equipment.

GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.5% throughout the 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, due to a combination of power shortages, severe budgetary problems, the global slowdown, and continuing civil strife.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $62.7 billion (2001 est.)

Labour Force: 6.6 million (1998)

Unemployment rate: 7.7 (2001)

Budget: revenues: $2.8 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21%
industry: 27%
services: 52% (2000)

Exports:
$4.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities:
textiles and apparel 15%, tea, diamonds, coconut products, petroleum products

Exports - partners:
US 39%, UK 13%, Middle East 8%, Germany 4%, Japan 4% (2000)

Imports:
$6 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

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

Imports - partners:
Japan 9%, India 8%, Hong Kong 7%, Singapore 7%, South Korea 5% (2000)

Debt - external:
$9.9 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient:
$577 million (1998)

Gross National Product at Current Factor Cost Prices- Sectoral Composition

Rs. Million
Sector 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001(a) % Change 
98/97 99/98 00/99 01/00
1. Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 175,774 192,665 205,599 218,408 244,061 9.6 6.7 6.2 11.7
1.1 Agriculture 138,999 153,355 163,481 171,878 195,420 10.3 6.6 5.1 13.7
Tea 12,685 14,448 12,295 15,551 15,307 13.9 -14.9 26.5 -1.6
Rubber 3,132 2,462 2,253 2,506 2,610 -21.4 -8.5 11.2 4.1
Coconut 14,960 15,573 17,675 13,249 13,364 4.1 13.5 -25.0 0.9
Paddy 24,469 26,842 30,197 26,545 28,172 9.7 12.5 -12.1 6.1
Other 83,753 94,010 101,061 114,027 135,967 12.2 7.5 12.8 19.2
1.2 Forestry 15,362 15,669 16,280 17,144 17,116 2.0 3.9 5.3 -0.2
1.3 Fishing 21,413 23,661 25,838 29,386 31,525 10.5 9.2 13.7 7.3
2. Mining & Quarrying 16,587 17,433 18,322 21,547 24,026 5.1 5.1 17.6 11.5
3. Manufacturing 131,876 151,007 163,103 189,331 198,404 14.5 8.0 16.1 4.8
3.1 Processing of Tea, Rubber & Coconut Kernel products 19,476 23,176 24,821 28,197 28,102 19.0 7.1 13.6 -0.3
3.2 Factory Industry 102,253 116,568 125,892 147,295 155,632 14.0 8.0 17.0 5.7
3.3 Small Industry 10,147 11,263 12,390 13,839 14,669 11.0 10.0 11.7 6.0
4. Construction 56,434 69,301 75,538 82,684 95,437 22.8 9.0 9.5 15.4
5. Electricity, Gas, Water and Sanitary Services 11,280 13,660 14,425 13,415 16,579 21.1 5.6 -7.0 23.6
6. Transport, Storage and Communication 86,327 101,620 113,814 131,669 153,390 17.7 12.0 15.7 16.5
7. Wholesale and Retail Trade 177,123 196,262 211,376 254,100 275,203 10.8 7.7 20.2 8.3
7.1 Imports 74,129 81,469 88,882 116,702 121,666 9.9 9.1 31.3 4.3
7.2 Exports 19,753 22,064 23,366 30,142 32,689 11.7 5.9 29.0 8.5
7.3 Domestic 83,241 92,729 99,128 107,256 120,847 11.4 6.9 8.2 12.7
8. Banking, Insurance and Real Estate 59,610 69,267 80,696 91,186 105,496 16.2 16.5 13.0 15.7
9. Ownership of Dwellings 15,769 17,346 18,387 19,858 22,190 10.0 6.0 8.0 11.7
10. Public Administration & Defence 40,990 48,040 52,412 58,020 69,409 17.2 9.1 10.7 19.6
11. Services (n.e.s.) 31,928 36,238 41,058 45,041 51,124 13.5 13.3 9.7 13.5
12. Gross domestic product 803,698 912,839 994,730 1,125,259 1,255,318 13.6 9.0 13.1 11.6
(a) Provisional estimates based on information available as at end January 2002
Source : Central Bank of Sri Lanka



Gross National Prodcut at Constant (1996) Factor Cost Prices 
Rs. Million
Sector 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001(a) % Change
98/97 99/98 00/99 01/00
1. Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 160,753 164,804 172,238 175,317 170,879 2.5 4.5 1.8 -2.5
1.1 Agriculture 126,107 128,337 133,952 136,212 131,927 1.8 4.4 1.7 -3.1
Tea 11,069 11,195 11,341 12,226 11,798 1.1 1.3 7.8 -3.5
Rubber 3,795 3,452 3,487 3,149 3,184 -9.0 1.0 -9.7 1.1
Coconut 13,258 12,829 13,996 15,116 13,862 -3.2 9.1 8.0 -8.3
Paddy 22,122 26,165 27,892 27,808 25,663 18.3 6.6 -0.3 -7.7
Other 75,863 74,696 77,236 77,913 77,420 -1.5 3.4 0.9 -0.6
1.2 Forestry 14,942 15,122 15,319 15,564 16,342 1.2 1.3 1.6 5.0
1.3 Fishing 19,704 21,345 22,967 23,541 22,610 8.3 7.6 2.5 -4.0
2. Mining & Quarrying 14,460 13,677 14,238 14,921 15,123 -5.4 4.1 4.8 1.4
3. Manufacturing 122,929 130,702 136,498 149,115 143,406 6.3 4.4 9.2 -3.8
3.1 Processing of Tea, Rubber & Coconut Kernel products 16,771 16,575 17,204 17,928 17,131 -1.2 3.8 4.2 -4.4
3.2 Factory Industry 96,795 104,151 108,839 120,157 115,627 7.6 4.5 10.4 -3.8
3.3 Small Industry 9,363 9,976 10,455 11,030 10,648 6.5 4.8 5.5 -3.5
4. Construction 50,842 54,461 57,075 59,815 61,869 7.1 4.8 4.8 3.4
5. Electricity, water and gas 9,918 10,921 11,958 12,496 12,441 10.1 9.5 4.5 -0.4
6. Transport, storage and communication 80,268 86,442 93,444 100,706 104,889 7.7 8.1 7.8 4.2
7. Wholesale and Retail Trade 165,132 172,486 174,160 189,366 177,334 4.5 1.0 8.7 -6.4
7.1 Imports 70,833 76,609 75,536 85,280 76,147 8.2 -1.4 12.9 -10.7
7.2 Exports 18,323 18,346 19,465 23,027 21,178 0.1 6.1 18.3 -8.0
7.3 Domestic 75,976 77,531 79,159 81,059 80,009 2.0 2.1 2.4 -1.3
8. Banking, Insurance and Real Estate 54,767 58,247 60,926 64,810 68,041 6.4 4.6 6.4 5.0
9. Ownership of Dwellings 14,416 14,592 14,767 15,018 15,228 1.2 1.2 1.7 1.4
10. Public Administration & Defence 37,055 38,170 39,773 41,443 42,023 3.0 4.2 4.2 1.4
11. Services (n.e.s.) 29,223 30,294 33,263 34,028 34,770 3.7 9.8 2.3 2.2
12. Gross domestic product 739,763 774,796 808,340 857,035 846,003 4.7 4.3 6.0 -1.3
Net factor income abroad -8,816 -9,888 -14,000 -16,750 -14,074 - - - -
Gross national product 730,947 764,908 794,340 840,285 831,929 4.6 3.8 5.8 -1.0
(a) Provisional estimates based on information available as at end January 2002
Source : Central Bank of Sri Lanka