• ICTA projects digital exports to reach $ 5 billion in revenue by 2030
• E-commerce and contactless payments driving significant growth in the digital economy

Sri Lanka’s existing 3.5 million digital transactions has the potential to reach 15 million transactions, just as digital exports can reach $ 5 billion in revenue in 2030, Information Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Board Member Chandima Cooray told media yesterday (18).

“We believe there is industry potential to be driven up to the $ 5 billion export revenue by 2030. We also believe there is opportunity for the payment economy, or transactions to go from the current 3.5 million to 15 million, Cooray said, speaking at the Disrupt Asia Venture Engine conference.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Central Bank’s Payment’s Bulletin recorded a 27.4% growth in e-commerce payments in year-on-year terms, valued at Rs. 367.6 billion.

Mastercard Country Manager Sandun Hapugoda said that 35% of digital transactions within the last two years were e-commerce transactions.

“If you look at the last two years, we have seen a significant growth in the digital payments and the digital ecosystem itself. We have about 35% of the contribution of e-commerce to the total number of digital transactions that has been happening in Sri Lanka.”

The Central Bank’s Payment Bulletin also recorded the dominance of debit cards in the space of e-commerce transactions, with 99.7 million transactions having taken place within the year, up by 18.4% from the previous year.

“Interestingly 87% of transactions today are done by using debit cards, which means everybody has contactless cards today,” Hapugoda noted.

He added that contactless card transaction contribution to digital payments had increased by 33% in the last two years.

“Speaking of contactless cards, two years ago the contribution of contactless transactions to the total number of digital transactions was 19%, but today it has grown up to 52%. Which means 52% of the transactions are contactless enabled.”

The Payment’s Bulletin of 2024 revealed that e-commerce transaction volume grew by 23.8%, in year-on-year terms, posting 121.8 million transactions in 2024.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) says that South Asia’s adoption of digital payments, though lagging in comparison to South East Asia, is benefited by its significant youth population, the rapid adoption of financial services accessible via smartphones, and high mobile penetration in the region.