Domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Domestic credit to private sector by banks was 46.9% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka, 1960–2019
Source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka is 46.9%, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 60 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 82.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka peaked at 46.9% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 7.2%, in 1962.
That places Sri Lanka 80th out of 187 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 60 years of available data.
Domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 7.3% | — |
| 1961 | 7.3% | +0.8% |
| 1962 | 7.2% | -1.4% |
| 1963 | 8.6% | +19.3% |
| 1964 | 9.4% | +8.6% |
| 1965 | 9.2% | -2.0% |
| 1966 | 9.8% | +6.5% |
| 1967 | 10.3% | +5.8% |
| 1968 | 11.3% | +9.2% |
| 1969 | 12.4% | +9.4% |
| 1970 | 11.7% | -5.3% |
| 1971 | 12.4% | +5.6% |
| 1972 | 13.9% | +12.4% |
| 1973 | 11.6% | -16.5% |
| 1974 | 13.4% | +15.7% |
| 1975 | 12.7% | -5.7% |
| 1976 | 13.0% | +2.5% |
| 1977 | 15.7% | +21.0% |
| 1978 | 20.3% | +29.4% |
| 1979 | 22.6% | +11.4% |
| 1980 | 17.1% | -24.6% |
| 1981 | 18.1% | +6.2% |
| 1982 | 19.5% | +7.8% |
| 1983 | 21.0% | +7.6% |
| 1984 | 19.3% | -8.2% |
| 1985 | 20.2% | +4.7% |
| 1986 | 19.7% | -2.3% |
| 1987 | 20.2% | +2.2% |
| 1988 | 21.8% | +8.0% |
| 1989 | 20.2% | -7.4% |
| 1990 | 19.6% | -2.8% |
| 1991 | 8.8% | -55.1% |
| 1992 | 9.0% | +2.8% |
| 1993 | 9.8% | +8.5% |
| 1994 | 10.8% | +10.2% |
| 1995 | 31.0% | +186.1% |
| 1996 | 29.8% | -3.7% |
| 1997 | 29.4% | -1.5% |
| 1998 | 28.7% | -2.3% |
| 1999 | 29.2% | +1.9% |
| 2000 | 28.8% | -1.4% |
| 2001 | 30.7% | +6.6% |
| 2002 | 31.0% | +1.0% |
| 2003 | 30.7% | -1.0% |
| 2004 | 32.4% | +5.4% |
| 2005 | 33.0% | +2.2% |
| 2006 | 34.6% | +4.8% |
| 2007 | 34.2% | -1.2% |
| 2008 | 29.5% | -13.7% |
| 2009 | 25.7% | -12.9% |
| 2010 | 24.6% | -4.3% |
| 2011 | 33.6% | +36.7% |
| 2012 | 33.9% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 33.4% | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 34.4% | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 39.3% | +14.2% |
| 2016 | 42.3% | +7.8% |
| 2017 | 43.8% | +3.4% |
| 2018 | 46.6% | +6.4% |
| 2019 | 46.9% | +0.7% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 46.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 39.8%, 1.2× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 46.9% is above the median for South Asia, which is 45.4%, 1.0× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Domestic credit to private sector by banks 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | +186.1% | 10.8% | 31.0% |
| 1991 | -55.1% | 19.6% | 8.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 9.3% | 7.2% | 12.4% | 10 |
| 1970s | 14.7% | 11.6% | 22.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 19.7% | 17.1% | 21.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 20.6% | 8.8% | 31.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 31.1% | 25.7% | 34.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 37.9% | 24.6% | 46.9% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More financial sector data for Sri Lanka
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per capita 0.1797 units per person (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per capita 0.1312 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per capita 0.1797 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, SDR, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka?
- Domestic credit to private sector by banks in Sri Lanka was 46.9% in 2019, according to International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest domestic credit to private sector by banks recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 46.9% in 2019.
- What is the lowest domestic credit to private sector by banks recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.2% in 1962.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for domestic credit to private sector by banks?
- Sri Lanka ranks 80th out of 187 countries with data for 2019.
- Is domestic credit to private sector by banks rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 82.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 60 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Domestic credit to private sector by banks refers to financial resources provided to the private sector by other depository corporations (deposit taking corporations except central banks), such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment. For some countries these claims include credit to public enterprises. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.