International tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: International tourism, expenditures was 4.4% in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total imports.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka stood at 4.4%.
That represents a change of down 55.7% on the previous year and down 19.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka peaked at 9.9% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 4.2%, in 2011.
Sri Lanka ranks 67th of 186 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % of total imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 4.7% | — |
| 1996 | 4.4% | -6.1% |
| 1997 | 4.3% | -2.8% |
| 1998 | 4.9% | +14.8% |
| 1999 | 5.0% | +3.0% |
| 2000 | 4.7% | -6.1% |
| 2001 | 5.6% | +19.4% |
| 2002 | 6.2% | +9.7% |
| 2003 | 6.0% | -2.8% |
| 2004 | 5.5% | -8.9% |
| 2005 | 5.5% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 5.7% | +4.5% |
| 2007 | 5.6% | -3.1% |
| 2008 | 5.0% | -10.8% |
| 2009 | 6.3% | +26.8% |
| 2010 | 5.4% | -13.3% |
| 2011 | 4.2% | -23.5% |
| 2012 | 5.6% | +34.8% |
| 2013 | 8.4% | +49.8% |
| 2014 | 8.3% | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 9.4% | +12.6% |
| 2016 | 9.8% | +4.7% |
| 2017 | 9.5% | -3.1% |
| 2018 | 9.3% | -2.3% |
| 2019 | 9.9% | +7.0% |
| 2020 | 4.4% | -55.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.6% | 4.3% | 5.0% | 5 |
| 2000s | 5.6% | 4.7% | 6.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.0% | 4.2% | 9.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.4% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More private sector data for Sri Lanka
- Merchandise trade 32.2% (2025)
- Food imports 15.3% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 59.7% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 21.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 27.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 66.0% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 13.58 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 624.24 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1248 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.33 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka?
- International tourism, expenditures in Sri Lanka was 4.4% in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 9.9% in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.2% in 2011.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for international tourism, expenditures?
- Sri Lanka ranks 67th out of 186 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, expenditures rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, expenditures (% of total imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Their share in imports is calculated as a ratio to imports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from nonresidents to residents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.