FINANCIAL CHRONICLE – Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange revenue from tourism in February 2026 edged down 4.3 percent from a year ago to US$352 million, the central bank said, quoting tourism promotion authority data.
The island nation’s tourism revenue has been lower since August last year compared to arrivals after the relevant authority revised down per-day tourism spending, officials have said.
The monthly revenue showed a fall for the sixth time in the last eight months. It fell in July and August before rising marginally in the next two months.
February’s tourism revenue, which accounts for nearly 3 percent of the island nation’s economy, fell despite a record monthly arrival of tourists and a 16.3 percent increase to 279,328 from a year earlier.
Sri Lanka has set an ambitious target of 3 million arrivals for 2026.
The island nation witnessed US$3.22 billion in revenue in 2025, a 1.6 percent jump compared to US$3.17 billion in the previous year, the data showed.
Arrivals picked up 15.1 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, with the number of foreign visitors to Sri Lanka rising to a record 2,362,521 from 2,053,465.
Tourism accounted for nearly 5 percent of Sri Lanka’s economy when the sector was at its peak in 2018. Since then, it has been hit by the violent Easter Sunday suicide attack in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 followed by an unprecedented economic crisis.
The tourism earnings figure is estimated from a survey conducted by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. The daily spending per tourist has been reduced to US$148 since August last year from US$171 after a fresh survey.
Sri Lanka’s imports and the merchandise trade deficit have gradually picked up as tourism earnings came in and people in the sector spent their wages and other earnings. (Colombo/March 14/2026)
