ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in was 26.1 % in 2023. ▼ Falling
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka, 1981–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka stood at 26.1 %.
That represents a change of down 1.5% on the previous year and down 11.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka peaked at 49.3 % in 1985 and was at its lowest, 25.3 %, in 2019.
Sri Lanka ranks 27th of 116 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 33 years of available data.
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 45.9 % | — |
| 1985 | 49.3 % | +7.4% |
| 1990 | 47.8 % | -3.0% |
| 1991 | 41.4 % | -13.4% |
| 1992 | 43.6 % | +5.3% |
| 1993 | 37.7 % | -13.5% |
| 1994 | 41.5 % | +10.1% |
| 1995 | 37.1 % | -10.6% |
| 1996 | 35.4 % | -4.6% |
| 1997 | 37.1 % | +4.8% |
| 1998 | 40.9 % | +10.2% |
| 2002 | 34.5 % | -15.6% |
| 2003 | 34 % | -1.4% |
| 2004 | 34.1 % | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 30.7 % | -10.0% |
| 2006 | 32.2 % | +4.9% |
| 2007 | 31.3 % | -2.8% |
| 2008 | 32.7 % | +4.5% |
| 2009 | 32.6 % | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 30.2 % | -7.4% |
| 2011 | 29.7 % | -1.7% |
| 2012 | 31 % | +4.4% |
| 2013 | 29.6 % | -4.5% |
| 2014 | 28.1 % | -5.1% |
| 2015 | 28.7 % | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 27.1 % | -5.6% |
| 2017 | 26.1 % | -3.7% |
| 2018 | 25.5 % | -2.3% |
| 2019 | 25.3 % | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 27.1 % | +7.1% |
| 2021 | 27.3 % | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 26.5 % | -2.9% |
| 2023 | 26.1 % | -1.5% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 26.1 % is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 16.3 %, 1.6× the median. (38 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 47.6 % | 45.9 % | 49.3 % | 2 |
| 1990s | 40.28 % | 35.4 % | 47.8 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 32.76 % | 30.7 % | 34.5 % | 8 |
| 2010s | 28.13 % | 25.3 % | 31 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.75 % | 26.1 % | 27.3 % | 4 |
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 ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka?
- Ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Sri Lanka was 26.1 % in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 49.3 % in 1985.
- What is the lowest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.3 % in 2019.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Sri Lanka ranks 27th out of 116 countries with data for 2023.
- Is ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.8%. 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 ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment — 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.