Sri Lanka earns over US$ 2.2 Bn in tourism revenue in first nine months of 2026
Sri Lanka has earned more than US$ 2,000 million in tourism revenue during the nine-month period from January to September 2026, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
The latest Central Bank data shows that the country generated a total of US$ 2,245.2 million in tourism revenue during the period, compared to US$ 2,472.9 million recorded during the corresponding period in 2025, reflecting a decline of 9.2%.
A total of 1,693,679 tourists visited Sri Lanka during the first nine months of 2026, representing a 1.8% decrease compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, tourism revenue in September reached US$ 185.6 million, marking a 1.5% increase compared to US$ 182.9 million recorded in September 2025.
This marked the second consecutive month of year-on-year growth in tourism earnings, following a 2.1% increase recorded in August, when revenue reached US$ 264.4 million.
However, tourist arrivals declined by 0.3% in September, despite the increase in tourism earnings.
The tourism sector has also faced challenges due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while revisions to tourism expenditure estimates have complicated comparisons with previous years.
Meanwhile, the government revised its tourism targets for 2026 in August, increasing the annual tourist arrivals target from 2.5 million to 2.7 million and the revenue target from US$ 3.5 billion to US$ 4.2 billion.
With US$ 2.24 billion earned by the end of September, Sri Lanka will need to generate approximately US$ 1.96 billion during the final three months of the year to achieve its annual tourism revenue target.
This would require average monthly earnings of approximately US$ 653 million between October and December.
In comparison, Sri Lanka recorded US$ 3.22 billion in tourism revenue in 2025, with a record 2.36 million tourist arrivals. (Newswire)
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