Taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Taxes on goods and services was 6.0% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka, 1990–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % value added of industry and services.
Analysis
The most recent figure for taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka is 6.0%, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 43.7% on the previous year and up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka peaked at 14.0% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 4.2%, in 2022.
That places Sri Lanka 121st out of 154 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % value added of industry and services | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 13.3% | — |
| 1991 | 12.9% | -2.7% |
| 1992 | 12.8% | -1.3% |
| 1993 | 13.2% | +3.2% |
| 1994 | 13.0% | -1.6% |
| 1995 | 14.0% | +7.8% |
| 1996 | 13.2% | -5.5% |
| 1997 | 12.6% | -4.4% |
| 1998 | 11.4% | -9.6% |
| 1999 | 11.7% | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 12.2% | +4.4% |
| 2001 | 12.1% | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 11.1% | -9.0% |
| 2003 | 9.6% | -12.7% |
| 2004 | 10.5% | +8.6% |
| 2005 | 10.5% | +0.6% |
| 2006 | 9.9% | -5.6% |
| 2007 | 9.1% | -9.0% |
| 2008 | 8.0% | -11.4% |
| 2009 | 6.5% | -19.5% |
| 2010 | 6.6% | +2.8% |
| 2011 | 6.6% | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 6.4% | -2.6% |
| 2013 | 6.0% | -7.0% |
| 2014 | 5.9% | -1.7% |
| 2015 | 7.5% | +27.3% |
| 2016 | 7.8% | +4.6% |
| 2017 | 8.5% | +9.2% |
| 2018 | 8.2% | -3.4% |
| 2019 | 7.2% | -12.8% |
| 2020 | 4.2% | -41.0% |
| 2021 | 4.3% | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 4.2% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 6.0% | +43.7% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 6.0% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 9.8%, 61% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 6.0% is below the median for South Asia, which is 6.3%, 95% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | +43.7% | 4.2% | 6.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 12.8% | 11.4% | 14.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.0% | 6.5% | 12.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.1% | 5.9% | 8.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.7% | 4.2% | 6.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 118 Ireland 6.2% compare
- 119 Guinea-Bissau 6.1% compare
- 120 Afghanistan 6.1% compare
- 122 Papua New Guinea 5.7% compare
- 123 Kazakhstan 5.7% compare
- 124 Indonesia 5.4% compare
More public sector data for Sri Lanka
- Arms imports 9.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- 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)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), gaps filled 9.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per capita 60.84 current USD per person (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per unit of GDP 0.0134 current USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), annual growth rate 14.37 % change on previous year (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), gaps filled 1.33 billion current USD (2024)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per square kilometre 80.83 SIPRI trend indicator values per square kilometre (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka?
- Taxes on goods and services in Sri Lanka was 6.0% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest taxes on goods and services recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 14.0% in 1995.
- What is the lowest taxes on goods and services recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.2% in 2022.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for taxes on goods and services?
- Sri Lanka ranks 121st out of 154 countries with data for 2023.
- Is taxes on goods and services rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 Taxes on goods and services (% value added of industry and services). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
General taxes on goods and services are taxes levied on the production, leasing, delivery, sale, purchase or other change of ownership of a wide range of goods and the provision of a wide range of services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of value added in industry and services which is the contribution to the economy by industries in ISIC (Rev. 3) divisions 05-43 and 50-99.