Earnings from the merchandise exports increased by 11.87% y-o-y to US$ 915.3 Mn in April 2022, the highest monthly value recorded for the month of April.
This was mainly due to the increase in earnings from export of Apparel & Textiles, Coconut based products and Rubber based products. Further, a sizable increase was recorded in the exports of Electrical & Electronic Components and in the Seafood sector.
Sri Lankan merchandise exports grew to an all-time record for the month of April to US$ 915.3 Mn this year, surpassing the previous high of US$ 799 Mn achieved in 2021, Suresh D de Mel, Chairman - Export Development Board (EDB) said.
It must also be highlighted that, efficient facilitation of the supply of fuel and energy to our exporters is imperative to keep this momentum going while appealing for an expedited solution to the current crisis.
Further, we need to focus on niche markets while consolidating the market share in the US and EU. Export product diversification must simultaneously happen so that we can create more billion-dollar industries for Sri Lanka which we are lacking today.”
Monthly Merchandize Export Performance, 2020 - April 2022 in Millions of US$
Sources: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Customs & Sri Lanka Export Development Board
Major Exports in April 2022
Major product sectors except Spices & Concentrates, Apparel & Textiles, Tea, Rubber-based products, Coconut based products, Electronics & Electronic Components, Food & Beverages and Seafood as shown in the table 1 below, recorded increased exports in April 2022.
Exports of Apparel & Textiles increased by 22.12% y-o-y to US$ 445.79 Mn in April 2022. The increase was driven by both Apparel and Textiles.
Export earnings from tea in April 2022 which made up 12% of merchandise exports, increased by 1.49% y-o-y to US$ 80.44 Mn. Export of bulk tea increased by 9.52% in April 2022 compared to April 2021.
Export earnings from Rubber and Rubber Finished products have increased by 10.09% y-o-y to $ 71.27 million in April 2022, with good performance in exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (23.21%).
On monthly analysis, export earnings of kernel products, fiber products and shell products categorized under the Coconut based increased by 19.21%, 24.33% and 52.43% respectively in April 2022 compared to April 2021.
Export earnings from Seafood increased by 10.58% to US$ 21.22 Mn in April 2022 compared to April 2021. The expansion was contributed mainly by higher exports of Fish Fresh fish (22.79%) and Shrimps (119.61%).
Further, export earnings from Ornamental fish decreased by 17.6% to US$ 1.03 Mn in April 2022 compared to April 2021.
However, export earnings from the Electrical & Electronics Components increased by 27.05 % y-o-y to US$ 34.38 Mn in April 2022 with strong performance in exports of Insulated Wires & Cables (26.56%) and Electrical Transformers (71.36%).
In addition, export earnings from Spices and Essential Oils decreased by 4.05% to US$ 23.46 Mn in the month of April 2022 compared to month of April 2021 due to the poor performance in Pepper (-49.14%) and cloves (-50.31%). Despite the decline in the sector, earnings from Cinnamon, Essential Oils and Oleoresins increased by 50.26%, 19.89% & 542.11% respectively in April 2022 compared to April 2021.
Major Exports during the period of January - April 2022
For the period of January to April 2022, merchandise exports increased by 9.6 % to US$ 4,165.2 Million compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Major product sectors except Tea and Spices & Concentrates; Apparel & Textiles, Coconut based products, Rubber-based products, Electronics & Electronic Components, Food & Beverages, Seafood and Ornamental fish as shown in the table below, recorded increased exports.
Apparel & Textile exports increased by 13.27% to US$ 1,917.95 Mn during the period of January to April 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. Except Gloves, Mitts & Mittens of Textile (-2.28%) and Made-up Clothing Accessories (-13.58%), Yarn (-39.79%) and Made-up Textile Articles (-4.82%), exports of other sub categories of Apparel & Textiles sector increased.
Export earnings from Tea decreased by 12.02% to US$ 367.21 Mn during the period of January to April 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021. Exports of all the sub categories of tea sector except Tea Bags; Tea packets (-15.3%), Bulk Tea (-8.79%,), Instant Tea (-30.87%) and Green Tea (-20.63%) decreased during the period of January to April 2022 compared with the same period of 2021.
Export earnings from Rubber & Rubber finished products increased by 1.29 % to US$ 337.58 Mn in January - April 2022 compared with the same period of 2021 attributed to higher exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (10.31%). However, exports of Industrial & surgical Gloves decreased by 13.45% during the period of January to April 2022 compared with the same period of 2021.
For the period of January to April 2022, export earnings from Coconut & Coconut based products expanded by 11.56% to US$ 279.44 Mn from the same period last year. Earnings from all the major categories of Coconut based products increased in the period of January – April 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021 due to the improved performance in export of Liquid Coconut Milk, Coconut cream, Coconut Milk Powder, Cocopeat, Mattress Fiber, & Activated Carbon, Coconut Oil and Desiccated Coconut.
Meanwhile earnings from export of Electrical and Electronic Components (EEC) increased by 13.47 % to US$ 146.48 Mn in the period of January to April 2022 compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Export of Insulated wires increased by 19.94 % in during the period of January to April 2022 to US$ 26.59 Mn compared with the corresponding period of previous year. In addition, export of Switches, Boards & Panels, Electrical Transformers and Other Electrical & Electronic Products increased by 4.42%, 38.8% and 5.85 % respectively during the period of January to April 2022 compared with the corresponding period of previous year.
Export earnings from Seafood increased by 17.72% to US$ 88.94 Mn in the period of January to April 2022 compared to year 2021 due to the better performance in all the sub categories; Frozen Fish (9.42%), Fresh Fish (46.47%) and Prawns (52.22%).
Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Major Markets
Strong Export Growth recorded for top 5 export markets in the month of April 2022 and the period of January to April 2022.
During the month of April 2022, exports to United States, Sri Lanka’s single largest export destination, increased by 21.35% to US$ 249.02 Mn compared to the month of April 2021. The better performance led by increase in exports of Apparel & Textile (13.2%), Rubber based products (35.3%) and Coconut based products (62.6%).
The single largest export destination of United States of America recorded US$ 1,097.66 Mn worth of exports in the period of January to April 2022 – a significant year on year increase of 19.23 % in comparison to US$ 920.6 Mn recorded in 2021.
Exports to FTA Partners
During the period of January to April 2022, exports to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners accounted for 7.2% of total merchandise exports increased by 11.81 % to US$ 310.57 Mn.
Although Exports to India increased by 14.2% y-o-y to US$ 282.48 Mn, exports to Pakistan decreased by 7.63% to US$ 28.09 Mn during the period of January to April 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021.
Increased Exports to India is mainly supported by increased exports of Animal Feed (14.2%), Textile (14.88%), Pulp of Wood, waste & Scrap of Paper/ Paper Boards (40.70%) and Apparel (13.59%) in January - April 2022.
Sri Lanka’s Export Performance in Regions
On a region wise comparison exports to all regions except CIS countries increased during the period of January to April 2022 compared with the corresponding period of 2021 and exports to EU, South Asia and ME increased in the month of April 2022 compared to April 2021.
Exports to the European Union (EU) which comprised 20% of Sri Lanka’s exports increased by 20 % y-o-y to US$ 230.91 Mn during the month of April 2022.
During the period of January to April 2022, breakdown of exports to the top five EU markets which accounted for 80% of Sri Lanka’s total exports to the EU were; Germany US$ 247.35 Mn (increased by 6.52 %), Italy US$ 192.42 Mn (increased by 3.69%), Netherlands US$ 130.4 Mn (decreased by -3.4%), Belgium US$ 95.03Mn (decreased by 9.9%) and France US$ 83.74 Mn. (increased by 14.49%).
Export of Services
The estimated value of services exports for the period of January to April 2022 was 1,188.8 Million dollars, increasing 96.2 % over the corresponding period of 2021. The services exports estimated by EDB consists of ICT/BPM, Construction, Financial services and Transport & Logistics.
Policy & Strategic Planning Division - 19.05.2022
