Sri Lanka reports record tourism and remittance earnings in 2025

21 February 2026 06:11 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 12 Bookmark

CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA Follow

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Colombo, February 21 (Daily Mirror) - Sri Lanka recorded significant economic achievements in 2025, with tourism arrivals reaching 2.36 million, generating USD 3.2 billion, while migrant worker remittances exceeded USD 7.8 billion, highlighting the country’s expanding global economic presence, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment & Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath said.

Addressing a Media Networking Reception held yesterday (20) in Colombo he said the combined contribution from tourism and remittances amounted to approximately USD 11 billion, reflecting the impact of strategic diplomatic engagement, policy initiatives, and institutional reforms led by the Ministry.

Minister Herath said that these milestones demonstrate the Government’s commitment to advancing the national vision outlined in the policy framework “A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life”, under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka.

The Minister highlighted that transparent communication and responsible media reporting are essential to strengthening Sri Lanka’s global standing and fostering public trust. Highlighting upcoming initiatives, he pointed to Sri Lanka Expo 2026 as a key platform to showcase the country’s potential in trade, tourism, investment, and innovation.

Comments - 12

Navi Saturday, 21 February 2026 10:05 PM

Do not couple remittance earning with record tourism to hide the failure of income generated via tourism.

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Economic reality Sunday, 22 February 2026 08:49 AM

Need a very comprehensive, quick study on the sources and sinks of the tourism revenues by time. How much is re invested. How much repatriated. What is the average spend by class of tourist, what is average cost of servicing the average tourist by class. Needed for better economic planning. Otherwise the funds will vanish in importing BYD SUVs for the dim SL business executives.

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Kandaih Balendran Sunday, 22 February 2026 11:43 AM

Increasing remittances mean more people are leaving their families to slave in Arabia, because they cannot get a living wage in SL. It's a reason for shame (not pride).

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Many will be coming back in the near future, as this Govt has a heart for ALL those that were left behind for decades and decades. Monday, 23 February 2026 09:12 AM

Why blame this govt for wages being low, what did you do when previous govt/s for many decades neglected the poor majority. Education, health and training were neglected, so what can one expect other than the poor majority going abroad as maids etc. It is sad that many poor men and women had to leave their children and go slave overseas to put food on their tables and improve their living conditions. Time to reach out to the businesses who employ staff for a wage increase. Why wouldn't people sacrifice to lift their living standards?.

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S P Sunday, 22 February 2026 12:12 AM

Credit should also go to two ministers in the RW interim government, Harin and Manusha for initiating these great achievements that the AKD government continued through. However these two industries are very fragile and subject to global conditions so we need much more solid, export driven investments to top this up.

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wnamal Sunday, 22 February 2026 02:15 AM

Honorable minister, Tourism and Remittances are soft exporters. It is good that they have bounced back to 2018 level, But these two sources are suseptible to global shocks. The real strength comes from merchandise exports such as gems, tea, garments. We have to have more such as fertiliser, assembled cars, clothes, increased Agriculture. Services such as th Ranil Wickramasinghe's climate university, tropical fruits. Jack is the newest export product in Vietnam. We also need a government sponsored innovation hub. I am happy to do all that. Contact me on [email protected]. Provide large exporters a tax break, if they reach more than 300 million dollars a year, Sri Lanka will have a booming export market. Isuiue a tax free car for five years for exporters earrining more than 100 million dollars a year we will boom. Just sit on the driving street and accelerate the development, otherwise my lovely country will be a developing country even in 2048. Innovate and develop.

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LAN Sunday, 22 February 2026 03:59 AM

Sri Lanka is going to be a number tourism destination but we need update our services as well : health and safety measures are important in some places : We must be smart enough to create new tourist attractions such as water rides in some rivers or boats rides , food festivals of different communities, and many more

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tourism numbers Sunday, 22 February 2026 08:20 AM

Sri Lanka couldn't even meet the target of 3 million tourists in 2025. This is just peanuts compared to over 10 million tourists that visit other countries in South and South East Asia every year. Tourists are very smart these days and find out the facts before they part with their money these days.

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Cheers Sunday, 22 February 2026 08:45 AM

Don't send foreign remittance during this government and they said when in opposition now these guys are the ace rogues of the country

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Percy Wijenayake Sunday, 22 February 2026 09:03 AM

This proves that Honesty pays and efficient Leadership. Hope we spend a part of these earnings to improve sanitation and eliminate the mosquito problem.

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RanjithT Sunday, 22 February 2026 11:55 AM

What have the comrades done so far for these two sectors? Foreign remittances increased mainly due to Israel factor which was started by RW and his team. Comrade you got no reason to take credit. Tourist arrivals have increased but can any washington pin point any strategic plan? However the untold part is that earnings per tourist has come down. In 2024 earnings per tourist was US $ 1,543 where as in 2025 the figure is US$ 1,362 which amounts to drop of US$ 181 per tourist and total notional loss is US$ 427 million. Comrades and washingtons there is nothing for the gullible supporters to brag and dance.

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Sagarika Sunday, 22 February 2026 11:00 PM

Nothing to brag Mr. Wijitha. Income per Tourist has gone down. The government has done nothing to improve the quality of experience for the incoming visitors expect allowing unscrupulous exploitation with exorbitant charges by tuck tuck drivers and eating houses. Hence we are only attractive to cheap back packers who contribute nothing much. No point bragging about foreign remittances. People are leaving the country because of abject poverty and lack of opportunity and it’s nothing to be proud of. We have lost so much of the skilled work force we will have a reverse importation of people from neighboring countries to work in Sri Lanka. There has been no increase in productivity, no new job creation, no structural changes, no changes in the welfare state and the same tax and spend mode of operation. As a country we will never get out of this hole. I see the President and the PM trying their best to do a good job but the rest of you are an utter disappointment.

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