Sri Lanka’s total export earnings reached US$13.61 billion in the first nine months of 2026, a 5.04 percent increase on the same period last year, with September the strongest month of the year so far.
The figures come from Sri Lanka Customs, together with Export Development Board estimates for gems and jewellery and for petroleum products, NewsFirst reported at 6.08 p.m. Colombo time. Hiru News independently reported the same headline figure at 4.09 p.m., attributing it to the EDB and supplying the comparison base: US$12.96 billion over the same nine months of 2025.
The split
| Nine months to September | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Merchandise exports | US$10.76 bn | +5.35% |
| Services exports | US$2.85 bn | +3.88% |
| Total | US$13.61 bn | +5.04% |
The two components sum exactly to the stated total.
September was the outlier
September alone produced US$1.69 billion, a 17.23 percent year-on-year rise — far ahead of the 5.04 percent nine-month average, meaning the growth is concentrated late in the period rather than spread evenly across it.
Merchandise drove almost all of it, rising 21.66 percent to US$1.39 billion, while services were nearly flat at US$306.17 million, up 0.67 percent.
The strongest September sectors, year on year:
- Electrical and electronic components — up 88.35%
- Spices, essential oils and oleoresins — up 73.19%
- Rubber and rubber-based products — up 33.68%
- Food and beverages — up 27.92%
Within spices, pepper more than doubled at 165.38 percent and cinnamon rose 68.27 percent.
What fell
Three sectors declined in September. Tea earnings fell 1.38 percent, which NewsFirst attributes to weaker demand from key Middle Eastern markets — naming the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Iraq. Coconut-based products fell 8.88 percent and ornamental fish 35.15 percent.
The tea figure is the one that matters most for the rural economy, and the named markets are significant: Middle Eastern buyers have long been the largest destination for Ceylon tea, and the three named have all been subject to regional disruption this year.
The market shift
The United States remains the largest destination, taking more than 20 percent of merchandise exports and up 18.06 percent in September.
India has overtaken the United Kingdom to become the second-largest market, with exports to India up 29.65 percent in September and 12.3 percent across the nine months. That is a change in the ranking of Sri Lanka’s trading partners, not merely a growth rate, and it follows the trade-facilitation moves this desk has reported, including the Yunnan trade memorandum.
Turkey was the fastest-growing destination — up 64.22 percent in September and 94.01 percent across the nine months, close to a doubling. Exports to China also grew, which NewsFirst attributes to demand for activated carbon and other value-added products.
Not reported
Neither filing gives a target for the full year or compares the result against one, breaks the services figure down by category, or states whether the numbers are provisional. The EDB estimates for gems, jewellery and petroleum are not separated out, so the share of the total that rests on estimate rather than Customs data cannot be determined.
Hiru carries only the headline figure and the base; the sectoral and destination detail is single-sourced to NewsFirst. No filing gives the corresponding import figure, so nothing here can be read as a trade balance, and none reports the exchange-rate assumption behind the dollar conversion.