Sri Lanka’s tourism earnings fell by 9.2 percent in the first nine months of 2026 even though the country received nearly 1.7 million visitors, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) External Sector Performance report for September.

Tourism earnings were US$ 2.25 billion for January to September 2026, compared with US$ 2.47 billion in the same period of 2025. Arrivals fell by 1.8 percent over the period, with 1,693,679 visitors recorded. The drop in earnings was therefore much steeper than the drop in visitor numbers.

In September alone, 158,557 tourists arrived, a decline of 0.3 percent from September 2025. Earnings for the month rose by 1.5 percent to US$ 186 million, from US$ 183 million a year earlier.

Spending by Sri Lankans on foreign travel rose sharply. It increased by 62.4 percent to US$ 937.2 million in the nine months, from US$ 577 million a year earlier. In September, foreign travel spending rose by 64.9 percent to US$ 122 million.

The CBSL said higher travel and air transport payments reduced the services account surplus. The cumulative services surplus fell by 22.3 percent to US$ 2.21 billion for the nine months. In September the monthly surplus fell by 34.3 percent to US$ 119 million.

Background

The services account in the balance of payments records trade in services such as tourism, travel and transport. Money that foreign visitors spend in Sri Lanka counts as a services inflow, while money Sri Lankans spend on travel and on air transport abroad counts as an outflow.

The tourism earnings estimates are based on a revised methodology introduced by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) in May 2026. The method uses country-specific visitor arrivals, average daily spending and average length of stay.

The cumulative tourism figures are therefore estimates built from those inputs and not a direct count of every payment made by visitors.

What it means

Tourism is one of the sources of foreign currency that help Sri Lanka pay for imports. When earnings from visitors fall while spending on travel abroad rises, the services surplus that supports the current account becomes smaller.

For travellers, the figures show that outbound travel by Sri Lankans is growing quickly in value. For the tourism industry, the data show that visitor numbers have been roughly steady, while the amount earned from the visitors has fallen over the nine months.