Sri Lanka’s apparel sector has showed resilience in May 2025, with exports totalling US $ 365.07 million, experiencing a marginal decline of 0.56% compared to US $ 367.41 million in May 2024.
As per the data released by SLAEA – Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association – the industry’s cumulative performance from January to May 2025 paints a more encouraging picture as apparel exports rose to US $ 2.02 billion, marking a 9.80% year-on-year growth from US $ 1.84 billion in the same period of 2024.
Exports to the United States, the largest single market for Sri Lankan apparel, declined significantly in May 2025. Shipments to the USA dropped to US $ 129.99 million, a 7.6% decrease from US $ 140.66 million in May 2024.
According to further analysis by Apparel Resources, the decline was led by reductions in both knitted garments (down 6.4% to US $ 79.41 million) and woven products (down 19.2% to US $ 47.03 million).
On a cumulative basis, however, the US market remained positive. Exports for the first five months of 2025 totalled US $ 746.53 million, with 6.52% increase over the US $ 700.83 million exported during the same period in 2024.
In contrast, Sri Lanka’s apparel exports to the European Union exhibited a positive trend. In May 2025, shipments to the EU rose to US $ 121.72 million, representing a 5.2% increase over US $ 115.75 million in May 2024. Both product categories showed improvement – knitted products grew slightly to US $ 72.33 million and woven garments increased by 10.65% to US $ 45.50 million.
The cumulative exports to the EU from January to May 2025 stood at US $ 626.95 million, up 15.4% from US $ 543.45 million in the same period of 2024, marking one of the highest regional growth performances.
Despite the overall drop in May when compared to 2022’s record high of US $ 446.42 million, the sector’s five-month performance in 2025 showed a recovery trajectory. The US $ 2.02 billion in exports from January to May this year is the second-highest figure for the same period in the last six years, trailing only the US $ 2.26 billion recorded in 2022.
