Sri Lanka’s garment exports stood at $388.9 million during January 2023, which dipped by 18.8 per cent over the exports of $478.9 million in the same period of the previous year, as per the statistics released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The declining trend continued in the first month of 2023. Exports dropped by 8.7 per cent in December 2022 due to the economic slowdown.

During January 2023, textile exports from the island nation decreased by 1.2 per cent year-on-year to $27.4 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $8.1 million during the same period, down 14.6 per cent, according to the central bank’s report titled ‘External Sector Performance’.

Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 54.28 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed. The exports of all textile products totalled $424.4 million in January 2023, which was 17.8 per cent lower than the shipment during the same period last year.

On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles dropped by 31.3 per cent to $217.5 million, while clothing and accessories imports went down by 20.3 per cent to $18.2 million during January 2023.

Last year, Sri Lanka’s garment exports stood at $5,483.1 million which grew by 10.7 per cent over the exports of $4,951.5 million in 2021. The import of textiles and textile articles was $3,065.2 million, while clothing and accessories imports were recorded at $215.6 million last year.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)

Sri Lanka's garment exports down 18.8% in Jan 2023