Distillers Sri Lanka
A one-page guide to Sri Lanka for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative); Colombo (executive/judicial and commercial)
- Official languages
- Sinhala, Tamil, English (link language)
- Currency
- Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)
- Time zone
- UTC+5:30
- Area
- 65,610 km²
People
- Population
- 21.8 million (2025)
- Population growth
- -0.7% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 20.5%
- Aged under 15
- 21.7%
- Aged 65 and over
- 12.5%
- Life expectancy
- 77.7 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$108.9 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$5,004 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 5% (2025)
- Inflation
- -0.5% (2025)
Climate
Tropical and warm, averaging 28-31 C with about 17 C in the Central Highlands. Monsoons bring up to 2,500 mm a year to the wet zone and southwest, 1,200-1,900 mm to the dry zone, and 800-1,200 mm to the arid coasts.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 21 (sale or supply to persons under 21 barred by Excise Notification No. 666 of 1979 as amended)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 2.5 litres of pure alcohol (2022)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia - Sri Lanka (basics, climate); IMF DataMapper WEO (GDP, population, growth, inflation; retrieved 26 Oct 2026); UN Comtrade (HS 2208); WHO Global Health Observatory; Wikipedia - Legal drinking age; Daily FT - Fitch affirms DCSL (2015); Wikipedia - Intoxicants in Sri Lanka; WHO GISAH country profile - Sri Lanka (2018). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.