Trade gap narrows as external accounts show resilience

Sri Lanka's external sector continued its steady recovery in August 2025, supported by solid export growth, rising remittances, and a tourism revival, official data from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) showed.

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The island nation’s current account maintained its streak of monthly surpluses, while the merchandise trade deficit narrowed compared to August 2024, as exports grew faster than imports. However, the terms of trade deteriorated over the year, with import prices rising more sharply than export prices.

Vehicle imports remained high, with combined personal and commercial imports reaching US$ 249 million in August, pushing the cumulative figure for the first eight months of 2025 to US$ 918 million.