Foreign worker remittances hit record high in October; 7.6 billion dollars in first ten months

Foreign worker remittances reached a record high in October, marking one of the strongest ten-month performances in the country's history. The progress was recorded despite the conflict situation in the Middle East, where most Sri Lankans work.

According to new Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) data, remittances in October rose 3.31 percent year-on-year to 735.6 million dollars - the ninth consecutive month of strong inflows. Total remittances in the first ten months of 2026 crossed 7.6 billion dollars, a 16.5 percent year-on-year rise and the strongest January-October performance in Sri Lanka's history.

In all of 2025, remittances reached 8.07 billion dollars, up 23 percent from the year before and the highest annual inflow recorded - about 12 percent more than the previous peak of 7.24 billion dollars in 2016. With export earnings and tourism facing external pressures, remittances have reconfirmed themselves as Sri Lanka's largest source of foreign assets.

During the 2022 economic crisis, remittances fell 31 percent to a 12-year low of 3.78 billion dollars. They recovered to 5.96 billion dollars in 2023 with a 57 percent rise, and grew a further 10.1 percent to 6.57 billion dollars in 2024. Between 2014 and 2018, Sri Lanka's remittances averaged about 7 billion dollars a year.