Export earnings in December 2020 amounted to US$ 931.65 million, which was 13.75% upper than November 2020 and 6.91 % lower than December 2019 as per the Customs statistics. Reduction recorded in October and November exports due to the C19 outbreak in Sri Lanka which has had a direct impact on our manufacturing and export facilities also continued in December 2020.
Amid severe impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports remain at US$ 9.9 billion in 2020, which is a 104 % achievement from the revised forecast of US$ 9.5 billion.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Suresh De Mel said;“Amidst the outbreak of COVID-19, a notable rebound of the export sector was recorded from mid- 2020 with the proactive measures introduced by the Government.
The growth in exports was not only due to the effective prevention and control of the epidemic in Sri Lanka, the commitment of exporter community to support the national economy by bringing in the much-needed foreign currency at a crisis situation is commendable. Further, adverse global market conditions for Sri Lanka’s key exports were aggravated by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced by many countries, leading to low demand for exports of Sri Lanka.
When considering the top 10 export markets, other than United States, United Kingdom and Germany, increases in exports were recorded in other markets. Exports to China and turkey increased 30.97% and 31.01% in December 2020. Export earnings from Apparel & Textiles declined by 6.46 % to US$ 450.49 million during the month of December 2020 compared with US$ 481.59 million recorded in December 2019.
Export earnings from tea which made up 12% of merchandise exports increased by 6.78 % y-o-y to US$ 112.97 million in December 2020 compared to December 2019. Similarly, export earnings from tea recorded 17.42 % increase in December 2020 in comparison to November 2020.
In addition, export earnings from Rubber & Rubber finished products have increased by 6.22 % y-o-y to US$ 79.52 million in December 2020 due to the better performance in exports of Pneumatic & Retreated Rubber Tyres & Tubes (6.34%) and Industrial & Surgical Gloves of Rubber (27.70%).
Earnings from all the major categories of Coconut based products increased in December 2020 compared with December 2019. Export earnings from Spices and Essential Oils have increased by 57.61 % to US$ 33.13Mn in December 2020.
Total merchandize export earnings for January to December 2020 was US$ 9,912 million compared to US $ 11,940 million recorded in a similar period of the previous year – a decline of 16.98 %.
Major exports such as Apparel & Textiles (US$ 4,405.84 million, Tea (US$ 1,240.94 million), Rubber & Rubber based products (US$ 816.17 million) and Electrical & Electronic Components (US$ 328.28 million) recorded decrease of 21.01%, 7.83%, 9.66% and 13.87% respectively during January - December 2020 compared to the similar period of previous year.
Further, exports of Apparel, one of the hardest-hit economic sectors by the Covid-19 recorded US$ 4,405.84 million which was higher than the revised forecast of US$ 4.1 billion in April.
However, export of Coconut & Coconut Based Products (US$ 664.54 million), Spices and Concentrates (US$ 335.47 million) and Other Export crops (US$ 67.59 million) recorded positive growth rates during the period.
Earnings from export of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) related products increased by 47.42 % to US$ 876.44 million in January to December 2020 compared with the value of US$ 600.45 million recorded in the corresponding period of previous year.
The top five export destinations during the period Jan-December 2020 were United States of America (US$ 2,507.2 million), United Kingdom (US$ 910.47 million), India (US$ 604.5 million), Germany (US$ 570.39 million) and Italy (US$ 457.32 million) absorbed over 50% of exports recorded in the period.
Being the largest single export destination, United States of America has absorbed US$ 239.73Mn worth of exports in December 2020 recording a decline of 15.33 %.
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