Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products (%) in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products (%) was 4.7% in 2021. ◆ Volatile
Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products in Sri Lanka, 1990–2021
Source: Staff estimates. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 4.7% for tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 30.6% on the previous year and down 43.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products in Sri Lanka peaked at 31.3% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 4.7%, in 2021.
Sri Lanka ranks 129th of 184 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products (%) in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 29.0% | — |
| 1993 | 31.3% | +8.0% |
| 1994 | 31.2% | -0.1% |
| 1997 | 26.0% | -16.9% |
| 1998 | 9.9% | -61.7% |
| 2000 | 7.0% | -30.1% |
| 2001 | 6.8% | -2.9% |
| 2003 | 6.5% | -4.0% |
| 2004 | 7.0% | +8.5% |
| 2005 | 7.9% | +12.2% |
| 2006 | 7.5% | -4.3% |
| 2007 | 7.7% | +1.3% |
| 2008 | 7.6% | -0.8% |
| 2009 | 7.9% | +4.1% |
| 2010 | 8.6% | +9.2% |
| 2011 | 8.3% | -3.9% |
| 2012 | 7.7% | -7.4% |
| 2014 | 7.7% | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 5.0% | -34.7% |
| 2017 | 9.2% | +81.7% |
| 2018 | 12.5% | +36.9% |
| 2019 | 14.0% | +11.6% |
| 2020 | 6.7% | -51.8% |
| 2021 | 4.7% | -30.6% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 4.7% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 7.0%, 66% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 4.7% is below the median for South Asia, which is 10.9%, 43% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products (%) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +81.7% | 5.0% | 9.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 25.5% | 9.9% | 31.3% | 5 |
| 2000s | 7.3% | 6.5% | 7.9% | 9 |
| 2010s | 9.1% | 5.0% | 14.0% | 8 |
| 2020s | 5.7% | 4.7% | 6.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More private sector data for Sri Lanka
- Merchandise trade 32.2% (2025)
- Food imports 14.9% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 63.8% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 21.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service imports 3.35 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 29.0% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 63.7% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 13.58 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 7.05 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 624.24 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products in Sri Lanka?
- Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products in Sri Lanka was 4.7% in 2021, according to Staff estimates.
- What is the highest tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 31.3% in 1993.
- What is the lowest tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.7% in 2021.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products?
- Sri Lanka ranks 129th out of 184 countries with data for 2021.
- Is tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 43.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, published as part of Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Weighted mean most favored nations tariff is the average of most favored nation rates weighted by the product import shares corresponding to each partner country. Data are classified using the Harmonized System of trade at the six- or eight-digit level. Tariff line data were matched to Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) revision 3 codes to define commodity groups and import weights. Import weights were calculated using the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database.