ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in was 26 % in 2025. ▼ Falling
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka stood at 26 %. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.5% on the previous year and down 19.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka peaked at 48.4 % in 2004 and was at its lowest, 26 %, in 2025.
That places Sri Lanka 56th out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 42.4 % | — |
| 1992 | 45.5 % | +7.3% |
| 1993 | 41.5 % | -8.8% |
| 1994 | 43.4 % | +4.6% |
| 1995 | 39.6 % | -8.8% |
| 1996 | 37.3 % | -5.8% |
| 1997 | 41.6 % | +11.5% |
| 1998 | 46.7 % | +12.3% |
| 1999 | 46.5 % | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 46.2 % | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 46.6 % | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 46.2 % | -0.9% |
| 2003 | 45.5 % | -1.5% |
| 2004 | 48.4 % | +6.4% |
| 2005 | 40.9 % | -15.5% |
| 2006 | 39.9 % | -2.4% |
| 2007 | 38.9 % | -2.5% |
| 2008 | 38.4 % | -1.3% |
| 2009 | 37.9 % | -1.3% |
| 2010 | 37 % | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 36.1 % | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 33.8 % | -6.4% |
| 2013 | 32.8 % | -3.0% |
| 2014 | 31.3 % | -4.6% |
| 2015 | 32.3 % | +3.2% |
| 2016 | 30.4 % | -5.9% |
| 2017 | 29.4 % | -3.3% |
| 2018 | 28.4 % | -3.4% |
| 2019 | 26.2 % | -7.7% |
| 2020 | 29.1 % | +11.1% |
| 2021 | 29.2 % | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 26.5 % | -9.2% |
| 2023 | 26.3 % | -0.8% |
| 2024 | 26.4 % | +0.4% |
| 2025 | 26 % | -1.5% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 26 % is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 10.1 %, 2.6× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 26 % is below the median for South Asia, which is 43.6 %, 60% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 42.72 % | 37.3 % | 46.7 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 42.89 % | 37.9 % | 48.4 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 31.77 % | 26.2 % | 37 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 27.25 % | 26 % | 29.2 % | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More agriculture & rural data for Sri Lanka
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 9.1 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0836 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 418.3 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.9172 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.7955 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 8.4% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 8.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka?
- Ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka was 26 % in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 48.4 % in 2004.
- What is the lowest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 26 % in 2025.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Sri Lanka ranks 56th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment - ILO Modelled Estimates — Female — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
The FAOSTAT Employment indicators domain focuses on indicators related to employment in agrifood systems and rural areas. The update is performed yearly, using data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) database that contains a rich set of indicators from a wide range of topics related to labour statistics. The indicators published in FAOSTAT are derived from the labour force statistics (LFS) and rural and urban labour markets (RURURB) databases of the ILOSTAT database. In addition, the ILO modelled estimates and projections (ILOEST) are used to provide information on employment in agriculture. FAOSTAT also publishes indicators on employment in agrifood systems (AFS) from 2000 at the national, regional, and global levels, using a methodology developed by the FAO to estimate the number of people employed within these systems.