16/09/2026
Chasing the next $3Bn: What it will take for Sri Lanka's apparel sector to get there
For thirty years, Sri Lanka's apparel industry has quietly powered the country's export economy accounting for roughly 40% of merchandise export revenue and employing 300,000 to 350,000 people. That scale wasn't accidental. It was built through deliberate government-industry planning dating back to the early 1990s.
The first transformation, anchored by the 200 Garment Factories Programme, pushed manufacturing beyond Colombo, created jobs in rural communities, and built the industrial base the sector still runs on today. It worked because government and industry moved together, not apart.
Now the industry is asking for a repeat but for a very different set of problems.
Sri Lanka’s Government has launched an ambitious National Export Development Plan (NEDP) targeting an increase in merchandise exports from $13.6 bn (2025) to $28bn in 2030. Aligned to this, JAAF is looking at a target of US 8bn. Against a backdrop of exports that have remained around the $5 bn mark for the last 5 years, this highlights a deeper challenge: the industry has outgrown the model that once drove its growth. The next phase will require a stronger focus on value addition, innovation, automation, productivity, market diversification and moving further up the global value chain.
The competition has changed. Manufacturing giants with deeper supply chains, wider trade access and lower costs have pulled ahead. Automation, digitalization and sustainable manufacturing are no longer differentiators, they are the baseline, one thing is clear: simply adding more sewing lines won't close the gap.
For thirty years, Sri Lanka's apparel industry has quietly powered the country's export economy accounting for roughly 40% of merchandise export revenue and