Sri Lanka’s textiles and garments sector records export earnings exceeding US$ 5 billion in 2017
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has recorded that the export earnings of the country’s textiles and garments sector has exceeded US$ 5 billion in 2017.
This amount has been calculated to be a 3.0% increase from 2016. Earnings in the month of December alone have recorded an increase of 19% after the resumption of duty free shipments to the European Union earlier that year.
The Central Bank data has noted that textiles and garments exports have risen 19.4% to US$ 470 million in December 2017 from a year ago.
“Recording the highest value for the year, earnings from textiles and garment exports continued to increase significantly in December 2017 with increased exports to the European Union (EU) following the restoration of the GSP+ facility in May 2017,” according to an official statement.
Earnings from garment exports to the EU have increased by 27.2 per cent year-on-year, while garment exports to the USA and other non-traditional markets increased by 18.0 per cent and 14.1 per cent during December 2017.
The official statement has reportedly noted that earnings from merchandise exports surpassed the one US dollar mark in December 2017 for the fifth time during the year and recorded a double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive month compared to 2016.
OSL take:
The growth shown in the textiles and garments exports sector between 2016 and 2017 indicates a growing trend in the industry. Given the many trade agreements Sri Lanka has with foreign countries, Sri Lanka’s export sector is bound to see further growth in 2018 as well. Sri Lanka shares a close trade link with India and Pakistan in the textile industry. This is therefore the best opportunity to invest in Sri Lanka’s textiles and garments exports sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20180226/Z_1 |