Language

Official languages
Sinhala (74%), Tamil (18%)

T-index
0.082%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

English
Low proficiency (EF) – 82 of 100 countries/regions in the world- 15/24 position in Asia.

Most studied languages
English

Demography

Capital: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Currency: Renminbi
Population: 22.16 billion
Population density: 358/km2

Economy

GDP: 84.52 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 3,814.7 USD ‎(2021) ‎
Exports: $11.3 billion (2020)

Statistics

Internet users:  52.6% penetration, 11.34 billion
Unemployment rate: 5.4% (2020)
Urbanisation: 18.48% (2018)
Literacy: 92 % (2020)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numbering system, point as decimal separator and space or comma as separator of thousands.

Date format:yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy 
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0094

Economy

Imports
$16.2 billion (2020). Petroleum; not crude ($1.27B), Fabrics ($722M), Medicaments ($413M), Petroleum crude ($384M), and Transmission apparatus for radio-broadcasting or television ($311M), importing mostly from China ($4.01B), India ($3.32B), United Arab Emirates ($920M), Malaysia ($685M), and Singapore ($648M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 74% have an account with a financial institution
• 5.3% have a credit card
• 6.2% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Easy to conduct business (61.8 out of 100) 4th out of South Asian countries, 99th worldwide out of 190 countries (2019, World Bank)

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 5th out of 10 Central and Southern Asian countries, 95th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Exports
$11.3 billion (2020). Tea ($1.27B), Brassieres, girdles, corsets, braces, suspenders, garters and similar articles ($518M), Slips, petticoats, briefs, panties, nightdresses, pyjamas, negligees, bathrobes, dressing gowns and similar ($466M), Suits, ensembles, jackets, dresses, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls ($447M), and Suits, ensembles, jackets, dresses, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls ($446M), exporting mostly to United States ($2.61B), United Kingdom ($922M), India ($740M), Germany ($678M), and Italy ($460M).

Economic freedom
‘Mostly not free’ (53.3 out of 100) 28th out of 39 countries in Asia Pacific Region 132rd worldwide out of 186 countries (2022, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)

Media

Media language Sinhalese and Tamil 

Information channels
Sri Lanka’s media is divided along language and ethnic lines. Privately-owned networks have the lion’s share of the TV audience. Non-state media often engage in political debate and criticise government policies. The state runs two TV stations, radio networks and newspapers in Sinhala, Tamil and English. At the height of the civil war Sri Lanka was one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists. Despite the pledges given by President Sirisena in 2015 to investigate past attacks on journalists, nearly all the crimes of violence against journalists remain unpunished, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in 2018. RSF said political control over media ownership is a major concern and has the potential to undermine pluralism and impartiality. There were major restrictions to online connectivity and social media platforms during communal violence in early 2018, said US-based Freedom House.

News agency

Lankapuvath – state-owned
Roar Media – news, multimedia
TamilNet – US-based Tamil news site, widely described as pro-Tamil Tiger

The press

Daily News – state-owned, English-language daily
The Island – private, English-language daily
Daily Mirror – private, English-language daily
Dinamina – state-owned, Sinhala daily
Lankadeepa – private, Sinhala daily
Lakbima – private, Sinhala daily
Uthayan – private, Jaffna-based Tamil daily
Virakesari – private, Tamil daily

Television

Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) – state-owned, operates Rupavahini in Sinhala, Channel Eye in English and Nethra in Tamil
Independent Television Network (ITN) – state-run, Sri Lanka’s first TV station
TV Derana – private
Hiru TV – private
Sirasa TV – private
TNL – private
ART TV – private
Swarnavahini – private
Shakthi TV – private

Radio

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) – state-owned, operates domestic services in Sinhala, Tamil and English, including widely listened to commercial service
FM Derana – private
Hiru FM – private
TNL Radio – private
Sun FM – private
Yes FM – private
Sirasa FM – private
Sooriyan FM – private
Shakthi FM – private

Internet Data

Internet users
52.6% penetration, 11.34 billion

Share of web traffic by device
61.31% mobile phones, 37.38% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.30% tablet devices

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
13 Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
18.20 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 149.9%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 84.1%

Most popular web search engines
Google (97.66%), Bing (1.68%), Yahoo (0.41%), Petal Search (0.15%), DuckDuckGo (0.06%), Yandex (0.02%)

Most used social media
Facebook (71.36%%), Reddit (27.28), Twitter (7.38%), Pinterest (4.54%), YouTube (13.84%), Instagram (1.89%) Linkedin (0.48%)

Social statistics

Median age of the population
34 yrs (2020) 

Healthcare expenditure:
1.5% of GDP (2018)

Life Expectancy
75.65 yrs (2017)