Earnings from the merchandise exports increased by 20 % y-o-y to US$ 1,208.2 Mn in June 2022 as per the data released by the Sri Lanka Customs. This was mainly due to the increase in earnings from export of Apparel & Textiles, Rubber based products, Coconut based products, Food & Beverages and Seafood.

Monthly Merchandize Export Performance, 2020 - June 2022 in Millions of US$

Sources: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Customs & Sri Lanka Export Development Board

 Major Exports in June 2022

Major product sectors except Tea and Spices & Concentrates; Apparel & Textiles, Rubber-based products, Coconut based products, Electrical & Electronic components and Food & Beverages, Seafood and Ornamental fish as shown in the table 1 below, recorded increased exports in June 2022.

Exports of Apparel & Textiles increased by 36.85% y-o-y to US$ 566.78 Mn in June 2022. The increase was driven by both Apparel and Textiles.

Export earnings from Rubber and Rubber Finished products have increased by 7.18% y-o-y to $ 102.36 million in June 2022, with good performance in exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (15.2%).

On monthly analysis, export earnings of kernel products, fiber products and shell products categorized under the Coconut based products increased by 30.15%, 1.63% and 21.3% respectively in June 2022 compared to June 2021.

Export earnings from Seafood increased by 130.75% to US$ 36.39 Mn in June 2022 compared to June 2021. The expansion was contributed mainly by higher exports of Frozen fish (89.3%), Fresh fish (219.18%) and Shrimps (219.25%).

Further, export earnings from Ornamental fish increased by 297.4% to US$ 3.06 Mn in June 2022 compared to June 2021.

Export earnings from the Electrical & Electronics Components increased by 5.71 % y-o-y to US$ 39.82 Mn in June 2022 with strong performance in exports of Insulated Wires & Cables (14.5%) and Switches, Boards & Panels (23.55%).

However, export earnings from tea in June 2022 which made up 12% of merchandise exports, decreased by 5.99% y-o-y to US$ 116.49 Mn. This was mainly due to the lower Export of bulk tea (10.99%).

In addition, export earnings from Spices and Essential Oils decreased by 10.9% to US$ 31.74 Mn in the month of June 2022 compared to month of June 2021 due to the poor performance in Pepper (49.68%), Oleoresins (-7.26%) and cloves (-24.15%). Despite the decline in the sector, earnings from Cinnamon increased by 89.81% in June 2022 compared to June 2021.

Major Exports during the period of January – June 2022

For the first half of 2022, merchandise exports increased by 12.4% to US$ 6,408.3 Million compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Major product sectors except Tea and Spices & Concentrates; Apparel & Textiles, Rubber-based products, Coconut based products, Electronics & Electronic Components, Food & Beverages, Seafood and Ornamental fish as shown in the table 1 below, recorded increased exports.

Apparel & Textile exports increased by 19.73% to US$ 2,967.39 Mn during the period of January to June 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. Except Made-up Clothing Accessories (-8.7%), Yarn (-21.38%) and Textile Floor Coverings (-3.28%); exports of other sub categories of Apparel & Textiles sector increased.

For the period of January to June 2022, export earnings from Coconut & Coconut based products expanded by 12% to US$ 434.34 Mn. Earnings from all the major categories of Coconut based products increased during the period of January – June 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021 due to the improved performance in export of Liquid Coconut Milk, Coconut cream, Cocopeat, Mattress Fiber, Activated Carbon, Coconut Oil and Desiccated Coconut.

Meanwhile earnings from export of Electrical and Electronic Components (EEC) increased by 12.96 % to US$ 228.12 Mn in the period of January to June 2022 compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Export of Insulated wires increased by 18.68 % in during the period of January to June 2022 to US$ 40.54 Mn compared with the corresponding period of previous year. In addition, export of Switches, Boards & Panels, Electrical Transformers and Other Electrical & Electronic Products increased by 8.29%, 18.87% and 9.14 % respectively during the period of January to June 2022 compared with the corresponding period of previous year.

Export earnings from Seafood increased by 33.64% to US$ 142.17 Mn in the period of January to June 2022 compared to year 2021 due to the better performance in all the sub categories except Lobsters; Frozen Fish (20.97%), Fresh Fish (70.51) and Prawns (86.04%).

Further, earnings from export of ornamental fish increased by 51.49% to US$ 10.15 Mn during the period of January to June 2022 compared to year 2022.

However, export earnings from Tea decreased by 11.25% to US$ 577.38 Mn during the period of January to June 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021. Exports of all the sub categories of tea sector except Tea Bags; Tea packets (-11.47%), Bulk Tea (-10.96%,), Instant Tea (-28.55%) and Green Tea (-23.65%) decreased during the period of January to June 2022 compared with the same period of 2021.

Export earnings from Rubber & Rubber finished products slightly decreased by 0.64 % to US$ 516.62 Mn in January – June 2022 compared with the same period of 2021 attributed to lower exports of Industrial & surgical Gloves (-16.06%). However, exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes increased by 8.45% during the period of January to June 2022 compared with the same period of 2021.

Table 1: Merchandise Export Performance

Values in US$ Mns

Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Major Markets

 Strong Export Growth recorded for top 5 export markets in the month of June 2022 and the period of January to June 2022.

During the month of June 2022, exports to United States, Sri Lanka’s single largest export destination, increased by 46.16% to US$ 323.65 Mn compared to the month of June 2021. The better performance led by increase in exports of Apparel & Textile (29.68%) and Coconut based products (26.8%).

The single largest export destination of United States of America recorded US$ 1,687.73 Mn worth of exports in the period of January to June 2022 – a significant year on year increase of 24.54 % in comparison to US$ 1,355.14 Mn recorded in 2021.

Table 2: Top 10 Export Destinations

Values in US$ Mns

Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Major Markets

 Strong Export Growth recorded for top 5 export markets in the month of June 2022 and the period of January to June 2022.

During the month of June 2022, exports to United States, Sri Lanka’s single largest export destination, increased by 46.16% to US$ 323.65 Mn compared to the month of June 2021. The better performance led by increase in exports of Apparel & Textile (29.68%) and Coconut based products (26.8%).

The single largest export destination of United States of America recorded US$ 1,687.73 Mn worth of exports in the period of January to June 2022 – a significant year on year increase of 24.54 % in comparison to US$ 1,355.14 Mn recorded in 2021.

Table 2: Top 10 Export Destinations

Values in US$ Mns

Exports to FTA Partners

During the period of January to June 2022, exports to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners accounted for 7.2% of total merchandise exports increased by 17.99 % to US$ 478.67 Mn.

Although Exports to India increased by 21.24 % y-o-y to US$ 437.75 Mn, exports to Pakistan decreased by 8.31% to US$ 40.92 Mn during the period of January to June 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021.

Increased Exports to India is mainly supported by increased exports of Animal Feed (19.26%), Arecanuts (95.96%) and Textile (47.76%) in January - June 2022.

 Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Regions

 On a region wise comparison exports to all regions except CIS countries increased during the month of June 2022 and the period of January to June 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021.

Table 3: Export Regions

Values in US$ Mns

Exports to the European Union (EU) which represented 20% of Sri Lanka’s exports increased by 21.55 % y-o-y to US$ 303.17 Mn during the month of June 2022.

During the period of January to June 2022, breakdown of exports to the top five EU markets which accounted for 80% of Sri Lanka’s total exports to the EU were; Germany US$ 383.94 Mn (increased by 9.41%), Italy US$ 295.33 Mn (increased by 7.45%), Netherlands US$ 203.02 Mn (increased by 4.81%), Belgium US$ 156.39Mn (decreased by 1.98%) and France US$ 130.87 Mn. (increased by 14.71%).

Export of Services

 The estimated value of services exports for the first half of 2022 was 1,337 Million dollars, increasing 45.72 % over the corresponding period of 2021. The services exports estimated by EDB consists of ICT/BPM, Construction, Financial services and Transport & Logistics.