Sri Lanka has reportedly shown a significant drop in the annual birth rate, while the number of annual deaths has increased since 2020, the Registrar General’s Department revealed.

The Senior Deputy Registrar General, Attorney-at-Law Lakshika Ganepola, stated that the number of annual births, which was around 325,000 before 2020, has now decreased to 280,000. Meanwhile, the number of annual deaths has increased to around 180,000, compared to 140,000 before 2020, as per reports. The Registrar General’s Department points out that this situation will adversely affect Sri Lanka’s population growth.

Meanwhile, according to the predictions of the Asian Development Bank, by 2050, Sri Lanka will go through an unprecedented demographic transition into an ageing population with a lower level of per capita income than other ageing economies. In addition, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that population projections show that the proportion of Sri Lankans above the age of 60 will increase from 14% in 2017 to 22% by the year 2037.

According to reported statistics, the birth rate for Sri Lanka in 2023 was 14.544 births per 1000 people, a 1.99% decline from 2022, while the death rate is shown as 7.122.