Remittance inflows to GDP in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Remittance inflows to GDP was 8.8% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Remittance inflows to GDP in Sri Lanka, 1975–2020
Source: World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank. Measured in %.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 8.8% for remittance inflows to gdp in 2020.
The figure is up 9.6% on the previous year and up 21.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, remittance inflows to gdp in Sri Lanka peaked at 8.9% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1975.
Sri Lanka ranks 43rd of 197 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
Remittance inflows to GDP in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 0.2% | — |
| 1976 | 0.4% | +59.8% |
| 1977 | 0.5% | +24.8% |
| 1978 | 1.4% | +217.1% |
| 1979 | 1.8% | +25.0% |
| 1980 | 3.8% | +111.1% |
| 1981 | 5.2% | +37.9% |
| 1982 | 6.1% | +16.7% |
| 1983 | 5.7% | -6.1% |
| 1984 | 5.0% | -12.6% |
| 1985 | 4.9% | -2.0% |
| 1986 | 5.1% | +4.3% |
| 1987 | 5.2% | +2.9% |
| 1988 | 5.1% | -2.2% |
| 1989 | 5.1% | -0.0% |
| 1990 | 5.0% | -2.6% |
| 1991 | 4.9% | -1.6% |
| 1992 | 5.6% | +14.9% |
| 1993 | 6.1% | +8.3% |
| 1994 | 6.1% | -0.2% |
| 1995 | 6.1% | +0.7% |
| 1996 | 6.1% | -1.3% |
| 1997 | 6.2% | +2.0% |
| 1998 | 6.4% | +3.7% |
| 1999 | 6.8% | +6.0% |
| 2000 | 7.1% | +4.0% |
| 2001 | 7.4% | +5.1% |
| 2002 | 7.8% | +5.5% |
| 2003 | 7.5% | -3.8% |
| 2004 | 7.6% | +1.0% |
| 2005 | 8.1% | +6.3% |
| 2006 | 7.7% | -5.3% |
| 2007 | 7.8% | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 7.2% | -7.3% |
| 2009 | 7.9% | +10.4% |
| 2010 | 7.3% | -8.4% |
| 2011 | 7.9% | +8.6% |
| 2012 | 8.8% | +11.1% |
| 2013 | 8.6% | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 8.9% | +2.6% |
| 2015 | 8.7% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 8.8% | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 8.2% | -6.7% |
| 2018 | 8.0% | -2.6% |
| 2019 | 8.0% | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 8.8% | +9.6% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 8.8% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 2.2× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 8.8% is above the median for South Asia, which is 4.7%, 1.9× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Remittance inflows to GDP 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | +217.1% | 0.5% | 1.4% |
| 1980 | +111.1% | 1.8% | 3.8% |
| 1976 | +59.8% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.9% | 0.2% | 1.8% | 5 |
| 1980s | 5.1% | 3.8% | 6.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.9% | 4.9% | 6.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.6% | 7.1% | 8.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.3% | 7.3% | 8.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.8% | 8.8% | 8.8% | 1 |
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 remittance inflows to gdp in Sri Lanka?
- Remittance inflows to gdp in Sri Lanka was 8.8% in 2020, according to World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank.
- What is the highest remittance inflows to gdp recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 8.9% in 2014.
- What is the lowest remittance inflows to gdp recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1975.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for remittance inflows to gdp?
- Sri Lanka ranks 43rd out of 197 countries with data for 2020.
- Is remittance inflows to gdp rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank, published as part of Remittance inflows to GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Workers' remittances and compensation of employees comprise current transfers by migrant workers and wages and salaries earned by nonresident workers. Data are the sum of three items defined in the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual: workers' remittances, compensation of employees, and migrants' transfers. Remittances are classified as current private transfers from migrant workers resident in the host country for more than a year, irrespective of their immigration status, to recipients in their country of origin. Migrants' transfers are defined as the net worth of migrants who are expected to remain in the host country for more than one year that is transferred from one country to another at the time of migration. Compensation of employees is the income of migrants who have lived in the host country for less than a year.