Sri Lanka records USD 884Mn exports in May 2021

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

As per the statistics released by Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in May 2021 were US$ 884.2 Million, an increase of 50.71% over US$ 586.7 Million in May 2020.

Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in January-May 2021 was US$ 4,583.56 Million, an increase of 32.61% over US$ 3,456.32 Million in January-May 2020.

Merchandise Export Performance Values in US$ Mns

Exports of Goods	Jan-May 2019	Jan-May 2020	Jan-May 2021	% Growth (20-21)	May 2020	May 2021	% Growth (20-21)
Apparel	2,248.68	1,534.61	2,064.17	34.51	218.83	370.87	69.48
Tea	571.77	456.72	526.62	15.30	108.28	109.23	0.88
Rubber-based products	376.33	280.31	424.47	51.43	51.19	91.18	78.12
Coconut-based products	259.50	216.63	317.19	46.42	51.80	66.71	28.78
Electronics & 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 & Beverages	158.57	124.70	147.66	18.41	23.88	30.23	26.59
Diamond, Gems & Jewelery	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
Petroleum Products	133.45	141.01	51.12	-63.75	27.07	27.71	2.36
Others	497.38	306.08	467.37	52.70	35.22	87.14	147.42
Total Merchandize Exports	4,845.72	3,456.32	4,583.56	32.61	586.70	884.22	50.71

Top 10 Export Destinations

	Country	Jan-May 2020	Jan-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	United Kingdom	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	18.09	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
10	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	Jan-May 2020	Jan-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 East Countries (Excl. Cyprus & Egypt)	278.86	310.32	11.28	62.14	66.39	6.84
Others	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

The services exports estimated by EDB which includes ICT/BPM, Construction, Financial Services, and Transport & Logistics show exports of US $ 1,194.3 Mn for the period of January to April 2021 compared to US$ 1,021.9 Mn 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.