Compensation of employees (% of expense) in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Compensation of employees (% of expense) was 18.9% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Compensation of employees in Sri Lanka, 1990–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 18.9% for compensation of employees in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of down 25.1% on the previous year and down 32.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, compensation of employees in Sri Lanka peaked at 29.9% in 2007 and was at its lowest, 18.9%, in 2023.
That places Sri Lanka 103rd out of 155 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Compensation of employees (% of expense) in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 19.9% | — |
| 1991 | 18.9% | -4.7% |
| 1992 | 20.4% | +7.7% |
| 1993 | 22.8% | +11.6% |
| 1994 | 20.8% | -8.5% |
| 1995 | 20.1% | -3.3% |
| 1996 | 20.0% | -0.8% |
| 1997 | 22.0% | +10.0% |
| 1998 | 24.3% | +10.6% |
| 1999 | 24.9% | +2.6% |
| 2000 | 23.7% | -4.9% |
| 2001 | 23.3% | -1.8% |
| 2002 | 24.5% | +5.2% |
| 2003 | 24.6% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 24.5% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 28.0% | +14.1% |
| 2006 | 28.2% | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 29.9% | +6.0% |
| 2008 | 28.2% | -5.5% |
| 2009 | 26.8% | -5.1% |
| 2010 | 27.8% | +3.9% |
| 2011 | 27.4% | -1.5% |
| 2012 | 25.7% | -6.3% |
| 2013 | 27.9% | +8.9% |
| 2014 | 28.8% | +3.1% |
| 2015 | 28.4% | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 28.7% | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 26.7% | -7.1% |
| 2018 | 26.7% | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 27.1% | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 26.6% | -1.7% |
| 2021 | 27.5% | +3.3% |
| 2022 | 25.2% | -8.2% |
| 2023 | 18.9% | -25.1% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 18.9% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 26.6%, 71% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 18.9% is below the median for South Asia, which is 19.6%, 96% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 21.4% | 18.9% | 24.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 26.2% | 23.3% | 29.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 27.5% | 25.7% | 28.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 24.6% | 18.9% | 27.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More public sector data for Sri Lanka
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Arms imports 11.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2025)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 0.4107 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0.0001 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), annual growth rate 80 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is compensation of employees in Sri Lanka?
- Compensation of employees in Sri Lanka was 18.9% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest compensation of employees recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 29.9% in 2007.
- What is the lowest compensation of employees recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.9% in 2023.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for compensation of employees?
- Sri Lanka ranks 103rd out of 155 countries with data for 2023.
- Is compensation of employees rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Compensation of employees (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.