The current population of Sri Lanka is 22,125,995 people, as of 2025 based on the adjusted UN estimation. The latest officially reported number was 21,916,000 in 2024.
Population facts:
- Sri Lanka is projected to reach 23.5M people in 2051.
- Sri Lanka is ranked 63/197 by population and was ranked 53rd in 2005.
- For the last 20 years, Sri Lanka has had an average growth rate of 0.47% per year.
- Sri Lanka accounts for 0.27% of the world's population.
- Since 2005, population has increased from 20.2M people to 22.1M (9.45% growth in 20 years).
Sri Lanka population clock
Sri Lanka
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
22125995
|
8266870341
|
| Population rank | 63/197 | N/A |
| Percent of world population | 0.27% | N/A |
| One net population change |
4.34 minutes
|
0.41 seconds
|
| One birth every |
2.13 minutes
|
0.24 seconds
|
| One death every |
2.91 minutes
|
0.52 seconds
|
| Daily growth/decline | -332 | +211,178 |
| Annual growth/decline | -121,000 | +77,079,845 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | -0.55% | +0.96% |
| Population growth rate rank | 187/197 | N/A |
| One migration net change every |
19.3 minutes
|
N/A |
| Annual migration change | -27,245 | N/A |
Sri Lanka population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 9,661,389 | - |
| 1961 | 9,899,372 | 2.46% |
| 1962 | 10,143,754 | 2.47% |
| 1963 | 10,395,040 | 2.48% |
| 1964 | 10,653,397 | 2.49% |
| 1965 | 10,916,965 | 2.47% |
| 1966 | 11,183,928 | 2.45% |
| 1967 | 11,457,328 | 2.44% |
| 1968 | 11,736,088 | 2.43% |
| 1969 | 12,013,858 | 2.37% |
| 1970 | 12,287,110 | 2.27% |
| 1971 | 12,551,910 | 2.16% |
| 1972 | 12,809,205 | 2.05% |
| 1973 | 13,060,916 | 1.97% |
| 1974 | 13,305,693 | 1.87% |
| 1975 | 13,548,984 | 1.83% |
| 1976 | 13,796,770 | 1.83% |
| 1977 | 14,049,371 | 1.83% |
| 1978 | 14,310,128 | 1.86% |
| 1979 | 14,579,614 | 1.88% |
| 1980 | 14,847,974 | 1.84% |
| 1981 | 15,099,414 | 1.69% |
| 1982 | 15,286,567 | 1.24% |
| 1983 | 15,388,794 | 0.67% |
| 1984 | 15,441,860 | 0.34% |
| 1985 | 15,544,154 | 0.66% |
| 1986 | 15,731,256 | 1.2% |
| 1987 | 15,916,576 | 1.18% |
| 1988 | 16,078,621 | 1.02% |
| 1989 | 16,248,557 | 1.06% |
| 1990 | 16,352,458 | 0.64% |
| 1991 | 16,475,354 | 0.75% |
| 1992 | 16,739,284 | 1.6% |
| 1993 | 17,025,918 | 1.71% |
| 1994 | 17,275,773 | 1.47% |
| 1995 | 17,564,068 | 1.67% |
| 1996 | 17,905,018 | 1.94% |
| 1997 | 18,248,200 | 1.92% |
| 1998 | 18,596,003 | 1.91% |
| 1999 | 18,944,731 | 1.88% |
| 2000 | 19,293,054 | 1.84% |
| 2001 | 19,600,362 | 1.59% |
| 2002 | 19,805,752 | 1.05% |
| 2003 | 19,951,521 | 0.74% |
| 2004 | 20,087,605 | 0.68% |
| 2005 | 20,216,524 | 0.64% |
| 2006 | 20,352,411 | 0.67% |
| 2007 | 20,492,545 | 0.69% |
| 2008 | 20,629,378 | 0.67% |
| 2009 | 20,756,435 | 0.62% |
| 2010 | 20,879,089 | 0.59% |
| 2011 | 21,009,048 | 0.62% |
| 2012 | 21,169,458 | 0.76% |
| 2013 | 20,585,000 | -2.76% |
| 2014 | 20,778,000 | 0.94% |
| 2015 | 20,970,000 | 0.92% |
| 2016 | 21,209,000 | 1.14% |
| 2017 | 21,453,000 | 1.15% |
| 2018 | 21,670,000 | 1.01% |
| 2019 | 21,803,000 | 0.61% |
| 2020 | 21,919,000 | 0.53% |
| 2021 | 22,156,000 | 1.08% |
| 2022 | 22,181,000 | 0.11% |
| 2023 | 22,037,000 | -0.65% |
| 2024 | 21,916,000 | -0.55% |
| 2025 | 22,035,440 | 0.54% |
| 2026 | 22,148,172 | 0.51% |
| 2027 | 22,255,601 | 0.49% |
| 2028 | 22,357,682 | 0.46% |
| 2029 | 22,453,922 | 0.43% |
| 2030 | 22,546,245 | 0.41% |
| 2031 | 22,635,106 | 0.39% |
| 2032 | 22,720,118 | 0.38% |
| 2033 | 22,802,043 | 0.36% |
| 2034 | 22,879,527 | 0.34% |
| 2035 | 22,952,739 | 0.32% |
| 2036 | 23,022,027 | 0.3% |
| 2037 | 23,088,877 | 0.29% |
| 2038 | 23,152,480 | 0.28% |
| 2039 | 23,211,633 | 0.26% |
| 2040 | 23,265,986 | 0.23% |
| 2041 | 23,315,260 | 0.21% |
| 2042 | 23,359,578 | 0.19% |
| 2043 | 23,398,752 | 0.17% |
| 2044 | 23,433,096 | 0.15% |
| 2045 | 23,464,943 | 0.14% |
| 2046 | 23,492,738 | 0.12% |
| 2047 | 23,512,629 | 0.08% |
| 2048 | 23,525,953 | 0.06% |
| 2049 | 23,533,940 | 0.03% |
| 2050 | 23,538,230 | 0.02% |
Sri Lanka has a population of 22.1M as of 2025, compared to 21M in 2015, 20.2M in 2005, and 17.6M in 1995.
Over the past 10 years, the population has had a trend to increase by an average of 0.55% per year. Sri Lanka is ranked 140th out of 197 countries by a 10-year average growth rate.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 20 years (in 2045) Sri Lanka will have 23,464,943 people (6.05% growth) with a rank change from 63rd to 68th.
By the year 2100, Sri Lanka's population is projected to decline by 8.9% to 20.2M people.
Largest cities by population
|
Sri Lanka
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Colombo | 753K |
| Gampaha | 191K |
| Beruwala | 165K |
| Negombo | 142K |
| Kandy | 120K |
| Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | 116K |
| Trincomalee | 99.1K |
| Galle | 93.1K |
| Matara | 68.2K |
| Anuradhapura | 63.2K |
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Sri Lanka population statistics
|
Sri Lanka
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 77.9 years | 73.5 years |
| Average age | 35.8 years | 33.8 years |
| Median age | 34.1 years | 31.6 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 48.4:51.6 | 50.3:49.7 |
| Fertility rate | 1.97 births per woman | 2.2 births per woman |
| Population density | 918 ppl/mi² | 141.6 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
Sri Lanka topic pages:
Population comparisons
