Exports fall to 5-month low in April as Sri Lanka enters COVID-19 third wave

• April exports rise 183% YoY to US$ 799mn due to low base effect
• Yet, lowest since last Nov. when country was battling with COVID-19 second wave
• Export earnings grow 30% YoY to US$ 3.7bn for first 4 months of 2021

Despite recording an impressive 183 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) growth in merchandise export earnings to US$ 798.9 million due to low base impact, Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports fell to a five-month low in April, after contracting by 25.1 percent Month-on-Month  (MoM) basis in the wake of the third COVID-19 wave in the country, according to the Export Development Board (EDB).

“This growth could be attributed to the gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions imposed within the country and globally. It must be noted that the year-on-year growth in April 2021 was largely due to the negative growth a year ago,” the EDB noted. 

The merchandise export earnings in April were the lowest since last November when the country was battling with the second COVID-19 wave.  The export earnings in April remained at the same levels of April 2019 when the exports were impacted by Easter Sunday 
deadly attacks. 

In March 2021, however, merchandise export earnings rose to the highest levels since July 2020 topping US$1 billion.

In the four-month-period, export grew by 29.62 percent YoY to US$ 3.7 billion.

In April, apparel exports grew by record 462.38 percent YoY to US$ 365.04 million recovering from record low exports in April last year. 

However, in comparison to March export figure of US$ 465.35 million, apparel exports were down by over US$ 100 million in April. 

The apparel sector contributed to 45.7 percent of the country’s merchandise export basket.