Sri Lanka's textile exports fail to cross $5bn in 2015

15 Mar '16

2 min read

The exports of textile and garments from Sri Lanka again failed to cross the $5 billion mark in 2015, after missing it by around $70 million in the previous year.

Last year, Sri Lanka's export earnings from textiles and garments, dropped 2.2 per cent year-on-year to $4.820 billion, compared to $4.929 billion in 2014, data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka showed.

Segment-wise, woven fabrics exports increased by 12.4 per cent to $101.5 million during the 12-month period, as against exports of $90.3 million in the year ago period. On the other hand, garment exports declined 2.7 per cent to $4.555 billion, compared to $4.682 billion in 2014.

Textiles and apparel accounted for about 60.43 per cent of all industrial exports and about 45.88 per cent of all exports made by the South Asian nation during January-December 2015.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's expenditure on import of textiles and textile articles decreased by 1.3 per cent year-on-year to $2.296 billion during the period under review, the data showed.

In December 2015, the island nation's export earnings from textiles and garments declined for the third consecutive month by 12.8 per cent year-on-year, reflecting low exports to both the EU and the US markets. However, garment exports to non-traditional markets such as Canada, China and the UAE increased slightly by 1.7 per cent during the month. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India