Sri Lanka’s workers’ remittances rose 9.3% year-on-year to US$695 million in June 2026, while tourism earnings declined compared to both the previous month and the same period last year, according to the latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Tourism earnings stood at US$151.1 million in June, down from US$155.7 million in May and US$169.5 million recorded in June 2025.

Despite the monthly decline, workers’ remittances increased from US$635.7 million in June 2025, although they were lower than the US$847 million received in May 2026.

During the first six months of 2026, workers’ remittances totalled US$4.60 billion, a 23.2% increase from US$3.74 billion recorded during the same period last year.

Meanwhile, tourism earnings for the January-June period amounted to US$1.51 billion, down 11.8% from US$1.71 billion in the corresponding period of 2025. Tourist arrivals during the first half of the year also declined marginally by 1.8% to 1.15 million visitors.

The Central Bank said Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were provisionally estimated at US$6.45 billion at the end of June 2026. The reserves include proceeds from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) currency swap arrangement.

The Central Bank also noted that the Sri Lankan rupee had depreciated by 7.9% against the US dollar on a year-to-date basis as of July 10, 2026.