Sri Lanka: Textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Sri Lanka's textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing) fell 3.92 percentage points on 2021 (from 41.67% to 37.74%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1983 to 2021), the average change was +0.95 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 18.03 percentage points in 2007 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.34 percentage points in 2008. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.81 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 54% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2022, Sri Lanka had the 2nd highest value of the 17 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Sri Lanka in the 2022 ranking

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2nd of 17: 15.93%
• North Macedonia — 3rd of 17: 14.94%
• Jordan — 4th of 17: 11.29%

What this measures

Textiles and clothing refers to industries in ISIC (rev. 3) divisions 17-19 and includes manufacturing of textiles, apparel, dyeing of fur, and tanning of leather. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of value added in manufacturing which is the contribution to the economy by the manufacturing sector (ISIC Rev. 3 major division D).

Limitations: In establishing classifications systems compilers must define both the types of activities to be described and the units whose activities are to be reported. There are many possibilities, and the choices affect how the statistics can be interpreted and how useful they are in analyzing economic behavior. The ISIC emphasizes commonalities in the production process and is explicitly not intended to measure outputs (for which there is a newly developed Central Product Classification). Nevertheless, the ISIC views an activity as defined by "a process resulting in a homogeneous set of products."

All 46 values

Textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 56.62% (2020)
• India — 7.37% (2023)
• Nepal — 6.51% (2022)

More economic policy & debt data for Sri Lanka

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$) — US$9.1 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current LCU) — 2.74 trillion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (constant 2015 US$) — US$6.84 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (constant LCU) — 929.67 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP) — 8.36% (2025)
• Manufacturing, value added (current US$) — US$18.63 billion (2025)
• Manufacturing, value added (current LCU) — 5.61 trillion (2025)
• Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) — 17.12% (2025)
• Industry, including construction, value added (current US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Sri Lanka's textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing)?

37.74% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1966?

It is up 14.47 percentage points from 23.27% in 1966. The highest value was 47.65% in 2007 and the lowest 12.04% in 1982.

How does Sri Lanka rank?

2nd highest of 17 economies with data for 2022.

Is the latest change in textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing) unusual for Sri Lanka?

In 2022, Sri Lanka's textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing) fell 3.92 percentage points on 2021 (from 41.67% to 37.74%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1983 to 2021), the average change was +0.95 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NV.MNF.TXTL.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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