The total population in Sri Lanka saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around 22.4 million people. Nevertheless, 2022 still represents a peak in the total population in Sri Lanka. This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.Find more key insights for the total population in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Bhutan.

The total population in Sri Lanka was estimated at 22.0 million people in 2023, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - Sri Lanka Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The annual population growth in Sri Lanka decreased to -0.65 percent compared to the previous year. Therefore, the population growth in Sri Lanka saw its lowest number in that year with -0.65 percent. Population growth refers to the annual change in population, and is based on the balance between birth and death rates, as well as migration.Find more key insights for the annual population growth in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Chart and table of Sri Lanka population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Sri Lanka LK: Population: Ages 0-14: % of Total Population data was reported at 20.880 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 21.290 % for 2020. Sri Lanka LK: Population: Ages 0-14: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 24.130 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2021, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30.140 % in 1990 and a record low of 20.880 % in 2021. Sri Lanka LK: Population: Ages 0-14: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sri Lanka – Table LK.OECD.GGI: Social: Demography: Non OECD Member: Annual.

WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application. Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.

Datasets are available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds (approximately 1km at the equator)

-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population UN adjusted count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel, adjusted to match the country total from the official United Nations population estimates (UN 2019), by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.

Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.

WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00674

The population density in Sri Lanka saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around 358.57 inhabitants per square kilometer. Still, the population density reached its highest value in the observed period in 2022. Population density refers to the average number of residents per square kilometer of land across a given country or region. It is calculated by dividing the total midyear population by the total land area.Find more key insights for the population density in countries like India and Bhutan.

Contains data from the DHS data portal. There is also a dataset containing Sri Lanka - Subnational Demographic and Health Data on HDX.

The DHS Program Application Programming Interface (API) provides software developers access to aggregated indicator data from The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program. The API can be used to create various applications to help analyze, visualize, explore and disseminate data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition from more than 90 countries.

In 1800, the population of the island of Sri Lanka was approximately 1.2 million. This figure would begin to grow following the island’s complete annexation into the British Empire with the end of the Second Kandyan War in 1815. Population growth then increased much faster towards the end of the 19th century, as child mortality rates dropped and large numbers of Indian migrants were imported to work on British plantations. These migrants were largely Tamil migrants from southern India, and by 1911, this group would make up almost 13 percent of the island’s population (on top of the existing 13 percent Sri Lankan Tamil population).

Population growth would expand rapidly in the years immediately following the island’s independence from the British Empire in 1948. However, this growth would slow in the 1950s, as legislation passed by the Sinhalese-dominated government immediately following independence resulted in the removal of citizenship for an estimated 700,000 Indian Tamils, and the deportation of over 300,000 to India over the following three decades. Growth would slow even further after the ethnic clashes of Black July in 1983, which marked the beginning of a civil war in Sri Lanka which would last from 1983 to 2009 and result in the death of over 80,000 people, and the displacement of an estimated 800,000. However, since the end of the civil war in 2009, the population of Sri Lanka has continued to grow, and in 2020, the population of Sri Lanka is estimated to be over 21 million.

Sri Lanka LK: Population: Total data was reported at 21,444,000.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 21,203,000.000 Person for 2016. Sri Lanka LK: Population: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 16,996,451.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 21,444,000.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 9,874,481.000 Person in 1960. Sri Lanka LK: Population: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sri Lanka – Table LK.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Sum; Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

Sri Lanka LK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 15.292 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 15.600 Ratio for 2015. Sri Lanka LK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 21.694 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 37.098 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 15.292 Ratio in 2016. Sri Lanka LK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sri Lanka – Table LK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Sri Lanka LK: Population: Female: Ages 40-44: % of Female Population data was reported at 6.800 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.632 % for 2016. Sri Lanka LK: Population: Female: Ages 40-44: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 5.480 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.027 % in 2001 and a record low of 4.347 % in 1960. Sri Lanka LK: Population: Female: Ages 40-44: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sri Lanka – Table LK.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 40 to 44 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

This data set include Sri Lanka census of population and housing 2012 with sex age and religion dis-aggregated data up to GND (4th Admin) level . This data set is shared by Disaster Management Centre of Sri Lanka during the 2016 flood response only for humanitarian response/agency purposes and updated with population projection up to 2022 by WFP and UNOCHA.

This statistic shows the median age of the population in Sri Lanka from 1950 to 2100*.The median age is the age that divides a population into two numerically equal groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age and half are older. It is a single index that summarizes the age distribution of a population. In 2020, the median age of the population of Sri Lanka was 32.1 years.

Rural population growth (annual %) in Sri Lanka was reported at --0.88005 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sri Lanka - Rural population growth (annual %) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population) in Sri Lanka was reported at 7.8527 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sri Lanka - Population ages 5-9, male (% of male population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) in Sri Lanka was reported at 100 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sri Lanka - Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in Sri Lanka: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49).

In 2023, the share of urban population in Sri Lanka remained nearly unchanged at around 19.21 percent. Nevertheless, 2023 still represents a peak in the share in Sri Lanka with 19.21 percent. A population may be defined as urban depending on the size (population or area) or population density of the village, town, or city. The urbanization rate then refers to the share of the total population who live in an urban setting. International comparisons may be inconsistent due to differing parameters for what constitutes an urban center.

UIS: Mean years of schooling (ISCED 1 or higher), population 25+ years, female in Sri Lanka was reported at 10.62 Years in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sri Lanka - Mean years of schooling of the population age 25+. Female - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.