Sri Lanka's garment exports faced a significant setback in January to May 2023, recording a sharp decline of 16.5% to reach $1.84 billion. The challenging global economic conditions contributed to this decline, as revealed by data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Comparatively, the previous year saw garment exports amounting to $2.21 billion during the same period. May 2023 alone witnessed a 14.2% decrease in garment exports, reflecting the ongoing global economic slowdown. In addition, textile exports from Sri Lanka fell by 3.1% year-on-year, totaling $144.6 million in the first five months of 2023.
The report further disclosed that exports of other manufactured textile articles reached $42.7 million, marking a decrease of 19% during the same period.
Despite the decline, textiles, garments, and other textile articles accounted for 53.07% of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka. Total textile product exports summed up to $2.03 billion, while the country's overall industrial exports reached $3.83 billion between January and May 2023.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka experienced a substantial drop of 28.8% in textile imports, amounting to $999.9 million. Similarly, clothing and accessory imports declined by 35.1% to $71.2 million during the same period.
