Sri Lanka’s merchandise export earnings exceeded the $ 1 billion mark in July, whilst propelling the total value of exports in first seven months to over $ 9 billion.
Merchandise export earnings in July saw a 6.58% year-on-year (YoY) increase reaching $ 1.08 billion, reflecting a 5.5% rise compared to June 2024. This drove the total value of goods shipped in the first seven months of 2024 to over $ 7 billion, the provisional data released by the Export Development Broad (EDB) yesterday.
The surge in earnings was largely attributed to boost in key sectors such as apparel and textiles, tea, coconut-based products, spices and concentrates and seafood.
In addition to the merchandise, the estimated value of services exports for July 2024 stood at $ 293.26 million, marking a 16.44% increase over the corresponding period in 2023. The services exports include sectors such as ICT/BPM, construction, financial services, transport and logistics.
Total exports for June 2024, including both merchandise and services, reached $ 1.9 billion, reflecting a 9.52% growth over corresponding period of 2023.
During the first seven months of 2024, total merchandise exports were up 4.94% YoY to over $ 7.23 billion, while estimated total service sector earnings increased by 12.28% YoY to $ 1.67 billion. This pushed the overall export earnings for the January to July period to a high of $ 9.13 billion, marking a 5.86% YoY growth.
FT