Worker remittances reach US$7.60 billion in ten months as October inflows rise

Sri Lanka received US$735.6 million in worker remittances in October 2026, bringing the first ten months' total to US$7.60 billion. October inflows were 3.3 percent above the US$712 million recorded a year earlier and slightly higher than September's US$734.4 million, according to the Central Bank's Weekly Economic Indicators.

For January to October, remittances increased 16.5 percent from US$6.52 billion in the same period last year. The difference was about US$1.08 billion. The ten-month growth rate is much larger than October's individual year-on-year rate because the two measures cover different periods and bases of comparison.

Dollar flows and rupee values are different measures

In rupee terms, the ten-month inflow rose 25.8 percent to Rs.2.46 trillion. A rupee-denominated increase should not be substituted for the growth in US-dollar inflows: exchange-rate changes affect the domestic-currency value of foreign receipts. The data concern recorded worker remittances, rather than all foreign-exchange earnings or the income of every Sri Lankan working abroad.

The Central Bank was a net buyer of US$191 million in the domestic foreign-exchange market during October. Gross official reserves stood at a provisional US$7.09 billion at month-end, including proceeds of the People's Bank of China swap. Those figures provide foreign-exchange context, but reserves are a stock at a point in time while monthly remittances are a flow over a period. They should not be treated as interchangeable.

Remittances remain an important source of foreign currency for the country and household income for recipients. The latest release shows a continued rise in recorded inflows, but it does not establish how the money was divided between families, how much was saved or spent, or whether every recipient's income rose by the national percentage.