The bar graph illustrates the relative percentage contributions made by the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors to the Sri Lanka economy between 1980 and 2020.
Overall, over the whole time period, the significance of agriculture declined steadily while services grew in importance decade by decade. A different patterned emerged for industry, which initially showed a slowly increasing percentage but then plateaued from 2000 onwards.
In 1980, agriculture contributed by far the highest percentage of GDP, peaking at 65%, but it then dropped in steady increments to a low of 15% in 2020. The service sector, on the other hand, had a relatively minor impact on the economy in 1980. This situation changed gradually at first, then its percentage contribution jumping from 30% to 60% between 2020 showing a reversal in the overall trend.
Industry remained a steady contributor to Sri Lanka’s wealth throughout the period. As a sector, it grew marginally from 15% in 1980 to 25% in 2000 and then remained static for the next two decades, maintaining a constant share of the overall GDP.
