Sri Lanka's garment exports ease 14.9% to $1,157.9 mn in Q1 2023

02 May '23

2 min read

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Sri Lanka's garment exports decreased by 14.9 per cent to $1,157.9 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year due to the global economic slowdown.
However, textile exports increased by 5.9 per cent to $88.9 million in the same period, while exports of other made-up textile articles decreased by 19.6 per cent to $26.1 million.

Sri Lanka’s garment exports stood at $1,157.9 million during January-March 2023, which decreased 14.9 per cent over the exports of $1,360.6 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 10.7 per cent in March 2023 due to the world economic slowdown.

During the first quarter of 2023, textile exports from the island nation increased by 5.9 per cent year-on-year to $88.9 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $26.1 million during the same period, down 19.6 per cent, according to the bank’s report titled ‘External Sector Performance’.

Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 53.62 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed. The exports of all textile products totalled $1,273 million in January-March 2023, while Sri Lanka’s total industrial exports stood at $2,374.7 million in the first quarter of the current year.

In March 2023, all textile products exports from the nation declined by 10.2 per cent year-on-year to reach $417.2 million. Category-wise, garment exports decreased by 10.7 per cent to $379.5 million, while textile exports eased 0.3 per cent to $28.5 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles were down by 15.6 per cent to $9.3 million.

On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles eased 31.3 per cent to $604.6 million, while clothing and accessories imports were down by 36.6 per cent to $45.7 million during January-March 2023.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)