Sri Lanka apparel beats bullish forecast to record highest exports

• Sri Lanka apparel exports for Y2017 at $ 4.81, highest-ever
• 3% surge from 2016Rishad commends apparel sector

Sri Lanka’s 2017 apparel performance has matched the recent forecast made by the Minister of Industry and Commerce and in fact slightly exceeded it.

“We expect that the final total apparel exports for entire 2017 would clearly exceed the exports of 2016, and expect it to be in the range of $ 4.7 billion,” Minister of industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen forecasted on 16 January, addressing the launch event of an apparel industry suppliers’ exhibition in Colombo.

Apparel export revenue data issue by both Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) and Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) confirmed the forecast. According to these latest data, total Sri Lankan apparel exports for Y2017 was $ 4.818 b (an increase of 3.06% from 2016’s $4.67 b). This is the highest annual export revenue to be recorded for Lankan apparels.

Only for the month of December 2017, exports were at $ 452 m – a 21% increase in comparison to 2016 December’s $ 374 m.

Interestingly, December 2017 monthly exports too were the highest ever exports for any December; 45% of apparel exports in 2017 (at $ 2.163 b) went to the US while 42% (at $ 2.025 b) headed to the EU.

Year-on-year exports to US showed a 2% increase in 2017 from 2016’s $ 2.121 b. Still, YoY exports to the EU surged by a larger 4.13% to $ 2.02 b in 2017, from 2016’s $1.944 b.   On 16 January, Bathiudeen said: “I praise the Sri Lankan apparel industry and the exporters for this great performance. As you may already know textile and apparel are almost half of our total annual exports of all products.”

It is estimated that two-thirds of Lankan apparel workers are women and therefore this sector is a major industry supporting the development of the country’s female labour force.