Sri Lankan’s garment sector has defied its deep economic crisis and continued to post robust growth with every passing month. This is good news for the Sri Lankan economy as the apparel sector accounts for 40 of its total exports.
During the Jan-July period the growth in garment export was a little over 16%. In the Jan-Aug 2022 period it surged by 20.8 percent to $3.773 billion and is well poised to achieve the garment export target of $6 billion. The Central Bank of the country revealed that textile exports from Sri Lanka, however, grew by a relatively lower rate of 5.9 percent to $240.9 million. The exports of other made-up exports registered a decline of 3.8 percent to $81.6 percent. The net exports of textile and clothing from Sri Lanka are dependent on import of textile and textile articles that stood at $2.17 billion while import of clothing and accessories stood at $158.6 million.
On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles rose by 11.9 per cent to $2,175.7 million, while clothing and accessories imports were up by 14.4 per cent to $158.6 million during January-August 2022. The total textile and clothing exports of Sri Lanka clocked $4.0955 billion during Jan-Aug 2022 while import of textile and clothing during the same period stood at $2.356
Western fashion brands such as Patagonia, Calvin Klein, NIKE and Ralph Lauren typically source tops, bottoms and jeans from the region, especially for medium-priced items.
