Public approval of the government has dropped to 50% from a post-election high of 65%, as growing concerns over Sri Lanka’s economic conditions weigh on public sentiment, according to the latest Mood of the Nation poll conducted by Verité Research.

The July 2026 survey recorded government approval at 49.83%, down sharply from the 65% recorded in February.

The decline comes alongside a significant deterioration in perceptions of the economy, according to the poll. The number of respondents who believe economic conditions are “getting better” fell to 41.63% from 64% in the previous survey.

Meanwhile, those who believe the economy is “getting worse” rose to 40.29%, compared with around 15% previously.

More than half of those surveyed, 55.59%, rated the current state of the economy as “poor”, while only 38% considered economic conditions to be “good” or “excellent”.

The shift in economic sentiment has also pushed Verité Research’s Economic Confidence Index into negative territory, recording -8 in the latest poll. 

The index had stood at -39 in mid-2024 before moving into positive territory after February 2025.

Government disapproval also increased, with 31.40% of respondents saying they disapproved of the way the current government is working.

The Mood of the Nation survey was conducted from July 11 to 30 among 2,013 adults selected through a nationally representative, multi-stage randomised sample.

The survey was conducted with Vanguard Survey (Pvt) Ltd as the polling partner and has a maximum sampling error margin of ±2.21% at a 95% confidence level for the full sample.