As more than 70% of Sri Lanka’s economic activity is driven by the informal sector, Sri Lanka is responsible for addressing structural challenges such as ensuring social security and closing the gendered labour force participation gap, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning and Minister of Labour Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando said last Friday (12), at the International Labour Conference held in Geneva.
“In the Sri Lankan economy, more than 70% of the contribution comes from the informal sector. A reliance on the informal sector also raises concerns of social security and gender gaps, while the labour force participation rate in Sri Lanka remains low at below 50%, with female labour force participation estimated around 30%,” Dr Fernando said.
According to data released on Q4 of 2025, Sri Lanka’s total labour force participation rate stood at 48.8%, with 68.1% of total participation made of males and 32.3% of females. Total participation had marginally declined from 49.9% between Q3 and Q4, according to Department of Census and Statistics data (DCS).
According to DCS data, in Q4 2025, male unemployment rate was at a low of 2.7%, whereas the female unemployment rate was disproportionately higher at 5.7%.
Fernando added: “Social justice is a very important concept. If we focus only on economic and financial aspects, to a greater extent, then social justice may be overlooked. Now we have both a mandate and a challenge, as we navigate economic revival, we must also ensure that social justice is addressed at the same time.”
Fernando said that if Sri Lanka is to avoid addressing its existing social justice-related issues, it is to face consequences for it in the future.
“Focusing solely on economic growth and investment while ignoring social justice could lead to serious consequences. We must avoid that outcome. At the same time, social justice is a broad concept that relates to the social contract and our mandate is to address all of these aspects together.”
Furthermore, Fernando said that though the current administration is dedicated to make policy decisions in line with alleviating the present challenges, the state alone may not be able to address the challenges the nation is faced with, indicating collaboration with international organisations with objectives that may support Sri Lanka's goal.
“It is a fact that issues such as living wages and social justice cannot be addressed by a single government alone. From our perspective, we will take the appropriate decisions in line with our policy direction.”