Population development in Sri Lanka

Population development in Sri Lanka since 1960

(Data in millions of inhabitants)

Annual growth rates in percent

Urbanization trends in Sri Lanka

The term urbanization refers to the proportion of the population that lives in cities rather than in the countryside. In 2025, the degree of urbanization in Sri Lanka was 20 percent. The largest cities in the country include Colombo, Galkissa, and Moratuwa. Compared to the previous year, the proportion of the population living in cities increased by around 0.74%. Rural areas are therefore becoming increasingly and significantly less attractive for residents and they are moving to the cities. As a rule, life there is more expensive, but offers better infrastructure and employment opportunities. Over the last 10 years, the increase in city dwellers has been around 0.88 percent p.a. Sri Lanka recorded the most significant increase in 2011, at 3.1 percent. The sharpest decline was in 1992, at -2.7 percent.

Urbanization has been increasing worldwide for a long time, but the graph does not show any drastic changes. At a global level, it has increased by around 0.62 percent annually. The proportion of the world's population living in urban areas has therefore averaged 57.3%.

Sri Lanka worldwide

Development of life expectancy

Life expectancy is the number of years a newborn child is statistically expected to live at the time of birth. It primarily reflects the level of healthcare in the country, but also temporary influences such as wars and civil unrest.

If we look at the difference between 1960 and 2024, life expectancy for women rose from 62.2 to 80.7 years during this period. That is an increase of 18.5 years, or around 23 percent. For men, it was 17.1 years, from 57.3 to 74.4 (23%).

Female Male

Median age

Unlike life expectancy, median age is an actual measurement of the population. It indicates how old people in Sri Lanka actually are at the present time. From 2012 to 2025, this age rose from 31.1 to 34.2 years. This corresponds to an increase of approximately 0.7 percent per year. If you convert this to days, it is 86.48 days per year. Unfortunately, football fields are not a suitable reference point here.

In most countries, this age is rising slightly and steadily. If it falls, this is usually due to excessively high birth rates or net immigration of young people or families with children. A decline in life expectancy or an exodus of older age groups is rarely associated with this. An increasing average age, on the other hand, often indicates declining birth rates or rising life expectancy. The exodus of younger people, on the other hand, only plays a significant role in exceptional cases.

Birth and death rate in Sri Lanka

Population growth is the result of the birth rate, the mortality rate and the migration rate. For example, the year 2024 in the graph: The population in Sri Lanka decreased by about 121,000 inhabitants. In the same year, the death rate was 7.8 per 1,000 people (~ 172,000 deaths) and the birth rate was 10.1 per 1,000 people (~ 223,000 births). As a result, around 172,000 inhabitants have migrated to other countries.

Over the past 10 years, the number of average deaths per year was 155,600 in Sri Lanka. The number of births was 297,885 annually.

The changes in births and deaths is displayed in the following graph. All data refer to births or deaths per 1,000 inhabitants.

Birth rate Death rate