Population, total in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Population, total was 21.76 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Population, total in Sri Lanka, 1960–2025
Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 21.76 million for population, total in 2025.
That represents a change of down 0.7% on the previous year and up 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population, total in Sri Lanka peaked at 22.18 million in 2022 and was at its lowest, 9.66 million, in 1960.
Sri Lanka ranks 62nd of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 10.81 million | 9.66 million | 12.01 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 13.43 million | 12.29 million | 14.58 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 15.56 million | 14.85 million | 16.25 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 17.51 million | 16.35 million | 18.94 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 20.12 million | 19.29 million | 20.76 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 21.15 million | 20.59 million | 21.80 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 21.99 million | 21.76 million | 22.18 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More climate change data for Sri Lanka
- Population growth -0.7% (2025)
- Urban population growth 0.0% (2025)
- Urban population 4.45 million (2025)
- Urban population 20.5% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 12.95 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 24.5% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 30.8% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 3.7% (2025)
- Marine protected areas 0.3% (2025)
- CPIA public sector management and institutions cluster average 3.4 1=low to 6=high (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population, total in Sri Lanka?
- Population, total in Sri Lanka was 21.76 million in 2025, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest population, total recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 22.18 million in 2022.
- What is the lowest population, total recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.66 million in 1960.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for population, total?
- Sri Lanka ranks 62nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is population, total rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Population, total. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.