Sri Lanka’s garment exports stood at $1,157.9 mn during January-March 2023, which decreased 14.9 percent over the exports of $1,360.6 mn 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 percent 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 percent year-on-year to $88.9 mn. The exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $26.1 mn during the same period, down 19.6 percent, according to the bank’s report titled ‘External Sector Performance’.
Textiles garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 53.62 percent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed. The exports of all textile products totalled $1,273 mn in January-March 2023, while Sri Lanka’s total industrial exports stood at $2,374.7 mn in the first quarter of the current year.
In March 2023, all textile products exports from the nation declined by 10.2 percent year-on-year to reach $417.2 mn. Category-wise, garment exports decreased by 10.7 percent to $379.5 mn, while textile exports eased 0.3 percent to $28.5 mn. The exports of other made-up textile articles were down by 15.6 percent to $9.3 mn.
On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles eased 31.3 percent to $604.6 mn, while clothing and accessories imports were down by 36.6 percent to $45.7 mn during January-March 2023.
