Sri Lanka's textile exports rise 2.3% in Jan-Oct '16

20 Feb '17

2 min read

Exports of textiles and garments from Sri Lanka increased by 2.3 per cent year-on-year in the first ten months of 2016, according to the data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. During January-October 2016, Sri Lanka's export earnings from textiles and garments stood at $4.107 billion, compared to $4.016 billion in the same period of 2015.

In October 2016, income from textile and garment exports, which accounts for around 46 per cent of total export earnings, increased by 1.3 per cent year-on-year to $392 million. This was mainly due to "the growth in garment exports to non-traditional markets, such as Canada, China, Australia and the UAE, despite a decline in exports to the EU market," the Central Bank said in its 'External Sector Performance – October 2016' report.

Textiles and apparel accounted for about 61.87 per cent of all industrial exports made by the South Asian nation during the ten-month period from January to October 2016.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's expenditure on imports of textiles and textile articles jumped 17.6 per cent to $2.218 billion in January-October 2016, as against imports valued at $1.887 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In October 2016 itself, the value of imports soared 35.5 per cent to $232.4 million over $171.6 million imports during the same month in 2-15. "Import expenditure on textiles and textile articles increased by 35.5 per cent due to the increase in import expenditure on fabric," the report said.

In 2015, the island nation's export earnings from textiles and garments declined by 2.2 per cent year-on-year to $4.820 billion, compared to $4.929 billion in 2014. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India