The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, announced that 2025 has become the year with the highest foreign remittance inflows to Sri Lanka since 2016.
Speaking at a press conference this morning (05), the Minister revealed that the country earned about USD 7.8 billion in foreign remittances over the past year.
Minister Herath also highlighted a historic milestone in the tourism sector, with 2,362,000 tourist arrivals and total revenue of USD 3.2 billion generated in 2025.
Addressing the media, the Minister stated:
“Due to the targeted promotional programs and collective efforts implemented last year, we succeeded in making 2025 the year with the highest number of tourist arrivals in our history. With 2,362,000 tourists, we have achieved significant growth compared to global tourism trends. This influx resulted in an income of USD 3.2 billion.”
The Minister further detailed the performance of foreign remittances:
“Last year marked the highest foreign remittance collection for Sri Lanka. By November, the income stood at USD 7.19 billion. With an average monthly inflow of USD 650 million to USD 700 million, and although the Central Bank has yet to release the official final report for December, we estimate a total of around USD 7.8 billion. This surpasses the previous peak of USD 7.4 billion recorded in 2016.”
Minister Herath pointed out that combined earnings from foreign employment and tourism alone contributed around USD 11 billion to the national economy through his ministry.
“By combining USD 7.8 billion from remittances and USD 3.2 billion from the tourism industry, our ministry has generated nearly USD 11 billion from these two sectors alone,” he added.
During the briefing, the Minister also addressed recovery efforts following the impact of Cyclone ‘Ditwah’.
He stated that around LKR 85 billion has been received so far in the form of donations. These contributions have been provided by foreign nations, the Sri Lankan diaspora, and various other international parties to support relief and reconstruction activities.
