🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of Sri Lanka is 23,348,315, ranking #60 in the world (0.28% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is growing at 0.50% per year. The biggest city is Colombo with 648,034 inhabitants.

Live estimate

23,350,284

Growth rate

0.50%

Density

372

people / km² (964 / mi²)

Median age

33.6

Fertility rate

1.93

births per woman

Life expectancy

78.0

years

Sri Lanka population 1950–2100

Population of Sri Lanka, 1950–2100 — solid: UN estimates, dashed: UN medium-variant projection.

By 2050, the population of Sri Lanka is projected to reach 24,813,690, and 21,249,406 by 2100. The population is expected to peak in 2051 at 24,814,757, then decline.

Sri Lanka population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	23,348,315	0.50%	372.4	33.6
2025	23,229,470	0.52%	370.5	33.3
2024	23,103,565	0.56%	368.4	33.1
2023	22,971,617	0.58%	366.3	32.8
2022	22,834,965	0.61%	364.2	32.6
2021	22,700,372	0.57%	362.0	32.3
2020	22,561,807	0.65%	359.8	32.1
2019	22,410,552	0.69%	357.4	31.8
2018	22,253,118	0.72%	354.9	31.6
2017	22,087,522	0.78%	352.2	31.3
2016	21,910,772	0.83%	349.4	31.0
2015	21,729,971	0.82%	346.5	30.7
2014	21,547,456	0.86%	343.6	30.4
2013	21,358,827	0.90%	340.6	30.1
2012	21,169,458	0.88%	337.6	29.8
2011	21,009,048	0.64%	335.0	29.5
2010	20,879,089	0.60%	333.0	29.2
2009	20,756,435	0.57%	331.0	28.9
2008	20,629,378	0.66%	329.0	28.6
2007	20,492,545	0.68%	326.8	28.3
2006	20,352,411	0.70%	324.6	28.0
2005	20,216,524	0.64%	322.4	27.7
2004	20,087,605	0.64%	320.4	27.4
2003	19,951,521	0.72%	318.2	27.1
2002	19,805,752	0.74%	315.9	26.8
2001	19,600,362	1.34%	312.6	26.5
2000	19,293,054	1.82%	307.7	26.2
1999	18,944,731	1.82%	302.1	25.9
1998	18,596,003	1.89%	296.6	25.5
1997	18,248,200	1.88%	291.0	25.1
1996	17,905,018	1.91%	285.5	24.7
1995	17,564,068	1.93%	280.1	24.3
1994	17,275,773	1.37%	275.5	23.9
1993	17,025,918	1.54%	271.5	23.6
1992	16,739,284	1.86%	267.0	23.2
1991	16,475,354	1.32%	262.7	22.9
1990	16,352,458	0.18%	260.8	22.6
1989	16,248,557	1.10%	259.1	22.3
1988	16,078,621	1.00%	256.4	22.0
1987	15,916,576	1.03%	253.8	21.7
1986	15,731,256	1.32%	250.9	21.4
1985	15,544,154	1.07%	247.9	21.1
1984	15,441,860	0.24%	246.3	20.9
1983	15,388,794	0.45%	245.4	20.8
1982	15,286,568	0.89%	243.8	20.7
1981	15,099,414	1.58%	240.8	20.5
1980	14,847,974	1.78%	236.8	20.4
1979	14,579,614	1.87%	232.5	20.2
1978	14,310,128	1.86%	228.2	20.1
1977	14,049,372	1.81%	224.1	20.0
1976	13,796,770	1.82%	220.0	19.8
1975	13,548,984	1.81%	216.1	19.7
1974	13,305,693	1.82%	212.2	19.5
1973	13,060,916	1.90%	208.3	19.4
1972	12,809,205	1.99%	204.3	19.2
1971	12,551,910	2.06%	200.2	19.1
1970	12,287,110	2.20%	196.0	19.0
1969	12,013,858	2.30%	191.6	18.9
1968	11,736,088	2.38%	187.2	18.8
1967	11,457,328	2.43%	182.7	18.7
1966	11,183,928	2.40%	178.4	18.6
1965	10,916,964	2.43%	174.1	18.5
1964	10,653,396	2.46%	169.9	18.4
1963	10,395,040	2.45%	165.8	18.4
1962	10,143,754	2.44%	161.8	18.4
1961	9,899,372	2.43%	157.9	18.4
1960	9,661,389	2.43%	154.1	18.5
1959	9,430,152	2.41%	150.4	18.6
1958	9,208,818	2.34%	146.9	18.7
1957	9,000,996	2.23%	143.5	18.8
1956	8,807,219	2.13%	140.5	18.9
1955	8,623,330	2.10%	137.5	19.1
1954	8,445,936	2.06%	134.7	19.2
1953	8,275,144	2.02%	132.0	19.4
1952	8,111,560	1.97%	129.4	19.5
1951	7,956,334	1.89%	126.9	19.7
1950	7,811,047	1.79%	124.6	19.9

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	23,461,560	0.47%	374.2	33.9
2028	23,569,175	0.45%	375.9	34.2
2029	23,670,637	0.41%	377.5	34.5
2030	23,767,952	0.41%	379.0	34.8
2031	23,861,630	0.38%	380.5	35.1
2032	23,951,250	0.37%	382.0	35.3
2033	24,037,619	0.35%	383.3	35.6
2034	24,119,294	0.33%	384.6	35.9
2035	24,196,475	0.31%	385.9	36.1
2036	24,269,517	0.29%	387.0	36.4
2037	24,339,994	0.29%	388.2	36.6
2038	24,407,043	0.26%	389.2	36.8
2039	24,469,399	0.25%	390.2	37.1
2040	24,526,699	0.22%	391.1	37.3
2041	24,578,647	0.20%	392.0	37.6
2042	24,625,365	0.18%	392.7	37.9
2043	24,666,659	0.16%	393.4	38.1
2044	24,702,869	0.13%	394.0	38.4
2045	24,736,435	0.14%	394.5	38.7
2046	24,765,737	0.10%	395.0	39.0
2047	24,786,708	0.07%	395.3	39.3
2048	24,800,753	0.04%	395.5	39.6
2049	24,809,176	0.02%	395.6	39.9
2050	24,813,690	0.01%	395.7	40.2
2051	24,814,757	-0.00%	395.7	40.5
2052	24,812,222	-0.02%	395.7	40.7
2053	24,804,892	-0.04%	395.6	41.0
2054	24,794,938	-0.04%	395.4	41.3
2055	24,784,167	-0.05%	395.3	41.6
2056	24,767,426	-0.09%	395.0	41.9
2057	24,744,905	-0.10%	394.6	42.1
2058	24,719,441	-0.11%	394.2	42.4
2059	24,691,035	-0.12%	393.8	42.7
2060	24,659,373	-0.14%	393.3	42.9
2061	24,625,465	-0.14%	392.7	43.2
2062	24,588,826	-0.16%	392.1	43.4
2063	24,547,759	-0.17%	391.5	43.6
2064	24,502,408	-0.20%	390.8	43.8
2065	24,451,440	-0.22%	389.9	44.1
2066	24,398,193	-0.21%	389.1	44.3
2067	24,343,068	-0.24%	388.2	44.5
2068	24,286,152	-0.23%	387.3	44.7
2069	24,229,898	-0.23%	386.4	44.9
2070	24,171,322	-0.25%	385.5	45.0
2071	24,109,928	-0.26%	384.5	45.2
2072	24,046,768	-0.27%	383.5	45.4
2073	23,979,902	-0.29%	382.4	45.5
2074	23,907,583	-0.31%	381.3	45.7
2075	23,833,459	-0.31%	380.1	45.9
2076	23,758,779	-0.32%	378.9	46.1
2077	23,681,151	-0.33%	377.7	46.2
2078	23,600,423	-0.35%	376.4	46.4
2079	23,514,635	-0.38%	375.0	46.6
2080	23,424,964	-0.39%	373.6	46.7
2081	23,333,082	-0.40%	372.1	46.9
2082	23,239,506	-0.40%	370.6	47.1
2083	23,144,157	-0.42%	369.1	47.3
2084	23,046,216	-0.43%	367.5	47.5
2085	22,944,819	-0.45%	365.9	47.7
2086	22,840,247	-0.46%	364.2	47.8
2087	22,734,998	-0.46%	362.6	48.0
2088	22,628,781	-0.47%	360.9	48.2
2089	22,520,551	-0.49%	359.2	48.4
2090	22,409,403	-0.50%	357.4	48.6
2091	22,297,748	-0.50%	355.6	48.7
2092	22,186,409	-0.51%	353.8	48.9
2093	22,073,390	-0.52%	352.0	49.0
2094	21,959,070	-0.52%	350.2	49.2
2095	21,843,305	-0.54%	348.4	49.3
2096	21,725,828	-0.54%	346.5	49.5
2097	21,607,571	-0.55%	344.6	49.6
2098	21,488,019	-0.56%	342.7	49.7
2099	21,368,143	-0.56%	340.8	49.8
2100	21,249,406	-0.56%	338.9	50.0

States & provinces of Sri Lanka by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Gampaha	2,443,000	10.5%
2	Kŏḷamba	2,273,260	9.7%
3	Kuruṇægala	1,610,299	6.9%
4	Mahanuvara	1,277,647	5.5%
5	Kaḷutara	1,217,260	5.2%
6	Gālla	1,058,771	4.5%
7	Ratnapura	1,019,512	4.4%
8	Yāpanaya	962,440	4.1%
9	Badulla	871,763	3.7%
10	Mātara	809,344	3.5%
11	Kægalla	774,542	3.3%
12	Anurādhapura	755,431	3.2%
13	Nuvara Ĕliya	731,415	3.1%
14	Puttalama	728,605	3.1%
15	Ampāra	648,057	2.8%
16	Hambantŏṭa	529,440	2.3%
17	Maḍakalapuva	515,733	2.2%
18	Mātale	484,531	2.1%
19	Mŏṇarāgala	448,194	1.9%
20	Pŏḷŏnnaruva	368,458	1.6%
21	Trikuṇāmalaya	365,841	1.6%
22	Vavuniyāva	171,511	0.7%
23	Kilinŏchchi	112,875	0.5%
24	Mannārama	99,051	0.4%
25	Mulativ	91,947	0.4%

State populations: GeoNames (latest official figures, reference dates vary by country).

Biggest cities in Sri Lanka

#	City	Region	Population
1	Colombo capital	Western Province	648,034
2	Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia	Western Province	219,827
3	Maharagama	Western Province	195,355
4	Jaffna	Northern Province	169,102
5	Moratuwa	Western Province	168,280
6	Negombo	Western Province	137,223
7	Pita Kotte	Western Province	118,179
8	Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte	Western Province	115,826
9	Kandy	Central Province	111,701
10	Trincomalee	Eastern Province	108,420
11	Kalmunai	Eastern Province	100,171
12	Galle	Southern Province	93,118
13	Point Pedro	Northern Province	89,810
14	Batticaloa	Eastern Province	86,742
15	Katunayaka	Western Province	84,643

FAQ

What is the population of Sri Lanka in 2026?

The population of Sri Lanka is 23,348,315 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in Sri Lanka?

Colombo is the biggest city in Sri Lanka with 648,034 inhabitants and it is also the capital.

Is the population of Sri Lanka growing or shrinking?

The population of Sri Lanka is growing at 0.50% per year, and is projected to peak in 2051 at 24,814,757.

Neighboring countries

🇮🇳 India

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-06.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-06.

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