Sri Lanka’s earnings from merchandise exports in January 2024 amounted to USD 970.7 million, marking a decline of 0.77% as opposed to the corresponding month last year, according to the Export Development Board (EDB).

Compared to January 2023, agricultural exports have shown a ‘modest increase’ of 3.58%, reaching USD 225.43 million in January 2024, with export earnings from tea, rubber and rubber-furnished products, coconut0-based products showing positive growth, the EDB said in a press release.

However, industrial exports have experienced a decline of 2.08% during the same period, dropping to USD 744.77 million, with earnings from apparel and textile, spices and essential oils, electrical and electronic components, diamonds, gems and jewellery witnessing negative growth.

With regard to Sri Lanka’s performance in its top 15 major export markets, the EDB said Italy, Germany, and Canada have shown positive growth in January 2024 in comparison to the corresponding month last year.

While the USA has continued as a key export destination for Sri Lanka, absorbing 23% of the island’s merchandise exports in 2024, exports to Sri Lanka’s single largest export destination, however, decreased by 13.46 % to USD 220.48 million in January 2024 compared to January 2023.

Additionally, exports to the United Kingdom have decreased by 12.79% to USD 67.52 million in January 2024 compared to the corresponding month in 2023.

Meanwhile, in January this year, exports Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners India and Pakistan constituted 6.5% of the total merchandise exports, experienced a notable 16.76% decrease, reaching USD 62.03 million compared to January 2023.

Furthermore, exports to India have gone down by 18.18% USD 56.93 million in January 2024 while exports to Pakistan increased by 3.24% respectively during the month of January 2024 compared to January 2023.

With respect to Sri Lanka’s performance in regions, the EDB said exports to the European Union (EU), which accounts for 24% of the island’s exports, during the month of January 2024 decreased by 3.41% y-o-y to USD 195.33 million. 

Exports to the top five EU markets were recoded as; Italy - USD 49.57 million (increased by 7.27%), Germany - USD 49.34 million (increased by 2.54%), the Netherlands - USD 26.02 million (decreased by 2.0%), France USD 17.16 million (decreased by 4.08%) and Belgium USD 15.72 million (decreased by 19.67%) during the month of 2024 in comparison to the corresponding month in 2023