Sri Lanka poverty rises to 16% as inflation drives living costs up

Sri Lanka
By Editor_1
A father and son share a meal at their shanty in Colombo. The Department of Census and Statistics Household Income and Expenditure Survey for 2025 showed that 3.42 million people fell below the poverty line with official poverty threshold jumping to 16,417 rupees per person per month in 2025 from 6,966 rupees in 2019 -Eranga Jayawardena/AP/File

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s poverty headcount index rose to 16.0% in the first quarter of 2025 from 14.3% in 2019, reversing years of progress as high inflation drove up basic living costs, official survey data showed.

The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2025 showed that 3.42 million people fell below the poverty line.

“The substantial rise in the poverty line highlights the importance of accounting for changes in the cost of living when assessing poverty trends.”

The official poverty threshold jumped to 16,417 rupees per person per month in 2025 from 6,966 rupees in 2019.

The survey noted that the poverty headcount index had previously fallen steadily from 22.5% in 2012/13 to 16.0% in 2016 and 14.3% in 2019 before turning upward again amidst the 2022 economic crisis.

Across residential sectors, the estate sector recorded the highest poverty headcount index at 23.0%, with 205,624 people living in poverty.

The rural sector registered 17.3% poverty, accounting for the largest share with 2.93 million poor individuals.

The urban sector recorded the lowest poverty headcount index at 7.8%, representing 279,054 poor individuals.

“The poverty headcount ratio in Sri Lanka increased by 1.7 percentage points compared with 2019, suggesting a reversal of the previous declining trend.”

The DCS estimated the national poverty headcount index within a 95% confidence interval of 14.5% to 17.5%, with a coefficient of variation of 4.8%.

The survey, which covered a nationally representative sample of 25,000 housing units, was postponed from 2022 to 2025 due to exceptional economic conditions.

Finalized district-level data will be released later.

-economynext.com

Editor_1
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