Sri Lanka’s textile and garment sector recorded a 7.3% drop in export earnings during the first four months of 2026, according to the latest report from the Economic Research Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
Apparel and textile shipments earned USD 1,624.7 million from January to April 2026, compared with USD 1,751.8 million in the same period of 2025, Ada Derana reported. The decline came even though Sri Lanka’s overall export earnings recorded a marginal increase, rising to USD 4,534.9 million from USD 4,315.6 million a year earlier.
Import expenditure rose significantly faster, climbing to USD 8,227.9 million in the four-month period — a 25.2% increase from USD 6,572.9 million in January–April 2025. The CBSL data attributed the import surge to a 32.8% rise in consumer-goods imports, a 24.1% increase in intermediate-goods imports and a 19.8% increase in investment-goods imports.
As a result, the trade deficit widened to USD 3,693 million for January–April 2026, with the central bank noting that the gap reflected the faster growth in import expenditure than in export earnings.
The apparel slip extends pressure on a sector that has been the country’s largest single goods-export earner. Total goods exports fell 4.94% in March on a year-on-year basis, with apparel and tea cited as principal drags. Industry voices have warned in recent weeks that Sri Lankan exporters face structural cost disadvantages relative to regional competitors — the Joint Apparel Association Forum has drawn an explicit comparison with Vietnam’s preferential FTA access, and the European Union and UNIDO are jointly underwriting a net-zero roadmap for the SL apparel sector intended to preserve EU market access on sustainability terms.
Source: Ada Derana — Textile and garment sector records 7.3% decline in export earnings in early 2026.
