Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside was 33.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 33.5% for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in 2023.
That represents a change of down 3.0% on the previous year and up 18.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka peaked at 38.0% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 8.2%, in 1972.
That places Sri Lanka 48th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 22.5% | — |
| 1961 | 22.9% | +1.6% |
| 1962 | 23.6% | +3.1% |
| 1963 | 25.3% | +7.1% |
| 1964 | 30.0% | +18.6% |
| 1965 | 22.3% | -25.6% |
| 1966 | 30.9% | +38.3% |
| 1967 | 26.2% | -15.2% |
| 1968 | 27.0% | +3.2% |
| 1969 | 20.0% | -26.1% |
| 1970 | 23.6% | +18.3% |
| 1971 | 19.3% | -18.2% |
| 1972 | 8.2% | -57.7% |
| 1973 | 13.5% | +65.2% |
| 1974 | 28.0% | +107.1% |
| 1975 | 28.7% | +2.8% |
| 1976 | 22.9% | -20.2% |
| 1977 | 25.3% | +10.2% |
| 1978 | 17.2% | -31.8% |
| 1979 | 17.4% | +1.2% |
| 1980 | 25.9% | +48.7% |
| 1981 | 17.6% | -32.2% |
| 1982 | 24.1% | +37.0% |
| 1983 | 23.0% | -4.5% |
| 1984 | 13.4% | -41.5% |
| 1985 | 21.5% | +60.2% |
| 1986 | 19.8% | -8.2% |
| 1987 | 21.0% | +6.0% |
| 1988 | 24.2% | +15.6% |
| 1989 | 26.6% | +9.5% |
| 1990 | 29.9% | +12.7% |
| 1991 | 23.2% | -22.6% |
| 1992 | 22.2% | -4.3% |
| 1993 | 20.1% | -9.6% |
| 1994 | 20.5% | +1.9% |
| 1995 | 21.1% | +3.4% |
| 1996 | 20.2% | -4.4% |
| 1997 | 20.3% | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 18.7% | -8.0% |
| 1999 | 16.2% | -13.4% |
| 2000 | 17.9% | +10.6% |
| 2001 | 19.4% | +8.3% |
| 2002 | 17.6% | -9.4% |
| 2003 | 19.9% | +13.2% |
| 2004 | 22.2% | +11.7% |
| 2005 | 25.2% | +13.2% |
| 2006 | 25.6% | +1.8% |
| 2007 | 17.8% | -30.4% |
| 2008 | 20.7% | +16.0% |
| 2009 | 22.2% | +7.2% |
| 2010 | 17.7% | -20.2% |
| 2011 | 22.3% | +26.0% |
| 2012 | 22.9% | +2.9% |
| 2013 | 28.3% | +23.3% |
| 2014 | 30.2% | +6.7% |
| 2015 | 14.1% | -53.3% |
| 2016 | 35.4% | +151.2% |
| 2017 | 32.3% | -8.8% |
| 2018 | 31.7% | -2.0% |
| 2019 | 35.0% | +10.6% |
| 2020 | 37.4% | +6.9% |
| 2021 | 38.0% | +1.5% |
| 2022 | 34.5% | -9.0% |
| 2023 | 33.5% | -3.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 33.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 20.2%, 1.7× the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 33.5% is above the median for South Asia, which is 29.7%, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +151.2% | 14.1% | 35.4% |
| 1974 | +107.1% | 13.5% | 28.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 25.1% | 20.0% | 30.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 20.4% | 8.2% | 28.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 21.7% | 13.4% | 26.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 21.2% | 16.2% | 29.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 20.8% | 17.6% | 25.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 27.0% | 14.1% | 35.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.9% | 33.5% | 38.0% | 4 |
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 merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Sri Lanka was 33.5% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 38.0% in 2021.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.2% in 1972.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside?
- Sri Lanka ranks 48th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 18.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.