Thought for the day

Sri Lankan Living Standards Rise Rapidly


 
Last updated: 3 July 2024
 
Real GDP per capita growth has soared, but mediocre governance, an ageing population and high public debt do not augur well

Sri Lanka's GDP Growth
Index: 1995=100
Sri Lankan Living Standards Rise Rapidly
* GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.


Real GDP per capita in Sri Lanka is over 58% higher than it was a quarter of a century ago but significantly lower than the 73% growth in the Asia-Pacific region and the 71% experienced by Frontier Markets. The performance of the improvement of living standards in the country has been particularly marked since 2000 and has accelerated. The country has enjoyed a solid 10-year cumulative annual average growth rate of GDP of 3.6%.

Sri Lanka has improved the social welfare and human capital of its citizens and the proportion of the population living below the poverty line is only 0.8% while the mean years of schooling at 10.6 is above the Asia-Pacific average. The World Economics Social Factors Index places Sri Lanka at 69.7, and comfortably above India at 57.6 and Pakistan at 56.8. On the negative side there is evidence of corruption and the World Economics Governance Index places Sri Lanka at 40.3, just above the Asia-Pacific median. Future growth could be held back by a high ratio of government debt at 73.0%, well above the regional average of 46.3%, and an ageing population. The proportion of Sri Lanka’s population over the age of 64 is 17.3%, almost twice the regional median and a contrast to Bangladesh at 7.7%.  See more data...



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