Sri Lanka recorded a significant 20.07 percent increase in services exports during July 2026, reaching 351.92 million dollars, though gains were tempered by a sharp decline in financial services earnings.
Sri Lanka's services sector demonstrated robust growth in July 2026, with exports climbing to 351.92 million dollars compared to the previous year's figures, according to the Export Development Board. The 20.07 percent year-on-year increase reflects broad-based strength across multiple service categories, though performance was uneven across different sectors.
Transport and logistics emerged as the strongest performer, expanding by 40.02 percent to reach 193.53 million dollars. The construction services sector also showed healthy growth, rising 30.88 percent to 13.09 million dollars. Information and communication technology services, along with business process management, grew more modestly at 2.32 percent, generating 143.24 million dollars in export earnings.
However, the sector faced significant headwinds in financial services, which experienced a dramatic 57.25 percent decline to just 2.10 million dollars. The Export Development Board's chairman Mangala Wijesinghe characterized the overall performance as momentum to build upon, emphasizing the need to strengthen existing export sectors while developing new market opportunities.
When measured cumulatively, services exports for the January to July period totaled 2,299.48 million dollars, representing a more modest 7.02 percent increase year-on-year. Combined goods and services exports in July reached 1,637.26 billion US dollars, up 2.63 percent from the equivalent 2025 period.