Sri Lanka’s services exports fell 6.26 percent year-on-year to 286.92 million US dollars in March 2026, according to the Export Development Board.
The sharpest drop came in the ICT/BPM sector, which earned 169.46 million dollars in March, down 26.48 percent from a year earlier. Transport and logistics services fell 33.73 percent to 101.08 million dollars, while construction services earnings were down 38.99 percent to 9.56 million dollars.
Financial services were the only segment to post growth, rising 74.53 percent to 6.82 million dollars — a small base but a notable divergence from the broader services slump.
Total exports of goods and services combined for March 2026 stood at 1,467.31 million dollars, down 5.2 percent year-on-year.
The services data complements the separately reported goods exports figure for March, which declined 4.94 percent on a drag from apparel and tea. Earlier this week the Export Development Board reported Q1 exports of 4.3 billion dollars, a headline that masked the services weakness now visible in the March breakdown.
The contraction in ICT/BPM — Sri Lanka’s flagship knowledge-services export — is the most striking feature of the data, pointing to softening demand in source markets at a time when the government has been pushing the sector as a growth engine beyond apparel and tourism.
