Sri Lanka’s tourism earnings declined by 9.2% during the first nine months of 2026, despite attracting nearly 1.7 million international visitors, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
The Central Bank’s latest External Sector Performance report showed that tourism revenue amounted to US$ 2.25 billion between January and September 2026, down from US$ 2.47 billion recorded during the corresponding period last year.
Tourist arrivals also recorded a decline of 1.8% during the nine-month period, with the country welcoming 1,693,679 visitors. However, the contraction in tourism earnings was significantly greater than the reduction in arrivals.
In September 2026, Sri Lanka received 158,557 tourists, representing a marginal decrease of 0.3% compared to the same month in 2025.
Despite the slight decline in visitor numbers, tourism earnings for September increased by 1.5% to US$ 186 million, compared to US$ 183 million recorded in September last year.
Meanwhile, expenditure by Sri Lankans travelling overseas increased substantially during the first nine months of the year.
According to the Central Bank, foreign travel expenditure surged by 62.4% to US$ 937.2 million during January–September 2026, compared to US$ 577 million in the corresponding period of 2025.
In September alone, overseas travel spending rose by 64.9% to US$ 122 million.
The Central Bank noted that increased payments for foreign travel and air transportation contributed to the contraction in the country’s services account surplus.
Consequently, the cumulative services account surplus declined by 22.3% to US$ 2.21 billion during the first nine months of 2026.
The latest tourism earnings estimates are based on a revised methodology introduced by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) in May 2026. The revised approach takes into account country-specific tourist arrivals, average daily expenditure and the average length of visitors’ stays.
