Merchandise export earnings up by 20%

Earnings from the merchandise exports increased by 20% y-o-y to US$ 1,208.2 million in June 2022 mainly due to the increase in earnings from export of apparel and textiles, rubber based products, coconut based products, food & beverages and seafood according to Exprot Development Board.

Major product sectors except tea and spices and concentrates; apparel and textiles, rubber-based products, coconut based products, electrical and electronic components and food and beverages, seafood and ornamental fish recorded increased exports in June 2022. Exports of Apparel and Textiles increased by 36.85% y-o-y to US$ 566.78 million in June 2022. The increase was driven by both Apparel and Textiles.

Export earnings from rubber and rubber finished products have increased by 7.18% y-o-y to $102.36 million in June 2022, with good performance in exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres and Tubes (15.2%).

Export earnings from Seafood increased by 130.75% to US$ 36.39 Mn in June 2022 compared to June 2021. Further, export earnings from Ornamental fish increased by 297.4% to US$ 3.06 million in June 2022. Export earnings from the electrical & electronics components increased by 5.71 % y-o-y to US$ 39.82 million in June 2022 with strong performance in exports of Insulated Wires & Cables (14.5%) and switches, boards & panels (23.55%).

However, export earnings from tea in June 2022 which made up 12% of merchandise exports, decreased by 5.99% y-o-y to US$ 116.49 million. In addition, export earnings from spices and essential oils decreased by 10.9% to US$ 31.74 million.

For the first half of 2022, merchandise exports increased by 12.4% to US$ 6,408.3 million. Apparel & textile exports increased by 19.73% to US$ 2,967.39 million during the period.

For the period of January to June 2022, export earnings from Coconut and Coconut based products expanded by 12% to US$ 434.34 million. Meanwhile, earnings from export of Electrical and Electronic Components (EEC) increased by 12.96 % to US$ 228.12 million.

Export earnings from Seafood increased by 33.64% to US$ 142.17 million.

However, export earnings from Tea decreased by 11.25% to US$ 577.38 Mn during the period and Export earnings from Rubber & Rubber finished products slightly decreased by 0.64 % to US$ 516.62 Mn.

Strong Export Growth recorded for top 5 export markets in the month of June 2022 and the period of January to June 2022.

During the month of June 2022, exports to the United States, Sri Lanka’s single largest export destination, increased by 46.16% to US$ 323.65 Mn compared to the month of June 2021.

The better performance led by increase in exports of Apparel & Textile (29.68%) and Coconut based products (26.8%).

The single largest export destination of the United States of America recorded US$ 1,687.73 Mn worth of exports in the period of January to June 2022 a significant year on year increase of 24.54 % in comparison to US$ 1,355.14 Mn recorded in 2021.