Sri Lanka’s industrial production of printing and publishing media increased by 54.5% in the first quarter of the year, with production in March growing by 35.2% in the month of March on year-on-year terms, data from the Sri Lanka Census and Statistics shows.

“Printing and reproduction of recorded media (54.5%), has shown a remarkable increase in production during the first quarter of 2025, compared to first quarter of 2024,” the recently released Index of Industrial Production Quarterly Bulletin for the first quarter of 2025 said.

“Among the manufacturing industries, the volume of products of Printing and reproduction of recorded media (35.2%); has shown remarkable increase in March.”

The industrial production volume grew by 5.6% in year-on-year (y-o-y) terms in March alone, and the overall industrial production volumes of the manufacturing sector increased by 6% for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same quarter in 2024.

The report added that the manufacture of wood and products made of wood, straw and cork, excluding furniture, decreased by 27.4%.

These results are posted just three years after Sri Lanka experienced a dire shortage of paper, due to its dollar shortages and dependency on importing raw materials. The country grappled with reduced print media, and postponements to school exams during this time period.

Sri Lanka’s last reported Purchasing Managers’ Index for Manufacturing in March posted its highest value in four years at 63.9, driven by festival activities.

The Central Bank attributed the sharp increase to the new orders and production sub-indices, particularly within the food and beverages and textile and wearing apparel manufacturing sectors, which were the main contributors to the growth in the overall index.