Sri Lanka’s economy grew 5.1 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, the Department of Census and Statistics said, accelerating from a 4.7 percent expansion in the previous quarter and extending the recovery from the 2022–2023 crisis.
Gross Domestic Product at constant 2015 prices reached Rs. 3,652,503 million in Q1 2026, up from Rs. 3,476,664 million in the same quarter of 2025, the department said in its national accounts release. At current prices, GDP rose 11.0 percent to Rs. 9,164,652 million.
Growth was led by the industrial sector, which expanded 7.2 percent and contributed 27.2 percent of total output. Within industry, mining and quarrying rose 19.5 percent and construction grew 16.3 percent, while manufacturing posted a softer 2.8 percent expansion, EconomyNext reported citing the data.
The services sector — the economy’s largest, at 54.2 percent of GDP — expanded 3.4 percent. Insurance activities surged 22.0 percent, IT and business process services grew 16.1 percent, and financial services rose 12.8 percent. Tourism-related activities also lifted services output, NewsFirst said.
Agriculture returned to positive territory with a 1.1 percent expansion, reversing a 1.3 percent contraction in Q1 2025. Coconut production grew 64.8 percent and offset a 5.8 percent fall in paddy and contractions in tea, fisheries and animal production.
Taxes less subsidies on products accounted for 11.3 percent of GDP in the quarter. The release covers the period from January 1 to March 31, 2026.
The print comes against the backdrop of the recovery from Cyclone Ditwah and emerging external pressures from the conflict in the Gulf, NewsFirst noted, with imports of capital and intermediate goods supporting construction and transport-related activity. The 5.1 percent print follows 4.8 percent growth in Q4 2025 and pushes Sri Lanka further along the GDP recovery path tracked by the CBSL Governor earlier this cycle.
