Sri Lanka's garment exports ease 17% to $1,769.9 mn in Jan-Apr 2023

03 Jun '23

2 min read

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Insights

In January-April 2023, Sri Lanka's garment exports fell 17 per cent to $1,468.7 million.
Meanwhile, textile exports slightly increased by 1.8 per cent to $114.2 million.
Combined, textiles and garment exports accounted for 53.25 per cent of all its industrial exports.
However, overall textile and clothing imports declined significantly during this period.

Sri Lanka’s garment exports stood at $1,468.7 million during January-April 2023, which decreased 17 per cent over the exports of $1,769.9 million in the same period of the previous year, as per statistics released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The country’s garment exports dropped by 24.1 per cent in April 2023 due to the world economic slowdown.

During the first four months of 2023, textile exports from the island nation increased by 1.8 per cent year-on-year to $114.2 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $33.8 million during the same period, down 20.7 per cent, according to the bank’s report titled ‘External Sector Performance’.

Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 53.25 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed. The exports of all textile products totalled $1,616.7 million in January-April 2023, while Sri Lanka’s total industrial exports stood at $3,035.6 million in the four months of the current year.

In April 2023, all textile products exports from the nation declined by 23.2 per cent year-on-year to reach $343.8 million. Category-wise, garment exports decreased by 24.1 per cent to $310.8 million, while textile exports eased 10.3 per cent to $25.3 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles were down by 24.2 per cent to $7.7 million.

On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles eased 32.2 per cent to $787.2 million, while clothing and accessories imports were down by 38.8 per cent to $57.5 million during January-April 2023.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)