Births plummeting in Sri Lanka as well, just 228,000 in 2024

Sri Lanka joins many other Asian countries grappling with demographic winter. Some 15 years ago, more than 350,000 children were born a year. Emigration is  a contributing factor. According to estimates, by 2041 one in four Sri Lankans will be over 60 years.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lanka reported only 228,091 births last year, following a steady decline from the early 2000s when the country had more than 350,000 births per year.

The Director General of the Department of Census and Statistics, Anoja Seneviratne, who made the announcement, took part recently in a policy dialogue centred on the issue of demographic decline, an issue highlighted by Dr Deepal Perera, consultant paediatrician at Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo.

“The decline in the paediatric population is mainly due to the migration of many young individuals, with a significant number either reluctant to marry or opting not to have children because of the current economic crisis,” Dr Perera said at a meeting titled “Shaping the future of Sri Lanka”.

In her view, the existing child population must also be protected, since they are vulnerable to various communicable or non-communicable diseases, as well as psychological problems.

Sri Lanka’s total fertility rate, which was 5.3 children per woman in 1953, fell to just 1.97 in 2023, below the replacement level of 2.1 that demographers believe is needed to maintain a stable population.

According to projections in the “2022 Revision of World Population Prospects”, Sri Lanka's current annual population growth rate of 0.35 per cent is expected to stop around 2035 followed by a decline in the population.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), lower fertility is linked to the other major demographic change, i.e. a rapidly aging of the population. By 2041, one in four Sri Lankans is expected to be over 60 years old.

Photo: Flickr / McCourtie/World Bank

• sri lanka
• birthrate
• decline
• aging
• emigration