Tonne-kilometers of air freight in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Tonne-kilometers of air freight was 278.50 million million ton-km in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
278.50 million million ton-km
Change on year
down 11.5%
World rank
49th
of 180 countries
All-time high
436.20 million million ton-km
in 2018
All-time low
500,000 million ton-km
in 1978
Years of data
54
1970–2023

Tonne-kilometers of air freight in Sri Lanka, 1970–2023

0100.0M200.0M300.0M400.0M197019962023

Source: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in million ton-km.

Analysis

Sri Lanka recorded 278.50 million million ton-km for tonne-kilometers of air freight in 2023.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 11.5% on the previous year and down 27.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, tonne-kilometers of air freight in Sri Lanka peaked at 436.20 million million ton-km in 2018 and was at its lowest, 500,000 million ton-km, in 1978.

Sri Lanka ranks 49th of 180 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 2.16 million million ton-km 500,000 million ton-km 3.50 million million ton-km 10
1980s 48.90 million million ton-km 9.70 million million ton-km 75.40 million million ton-km 10
1990s 134.24 million million ton-km 93.40 million million ton-km 179.20 million million ton-km 10
2000s 281.69 million million ton-km 203.13 million million ton-km 343.64 million million ton-km 10
2010s 389.22 million million ton-km 339.05 million million ton-km 436.20 million million ton-km 10
2020s 308.05 million million ton-km 226.48 million million ton-km 412.48 million million ton-km 4

Countries ranked near Sri Lanka

  1. 46 Pakistan 309.51 million million ton-km compare
  2. 47 Peru 299.23 million million ton-km compare
  3. 48 Kenya 288.62 million million ton-km compare
  4. 50 Austria 207.84 million million ton-km compare
  5. 51 Iceland 191.91 million million ton-km compare
  6. 52 Norway 176.59 million million ton-km compare

See the full ranking of 180 places →

More reference data data for Sri Lanka

All data for Sri Lanka →

Frequently asked questions

What is tonne-kilometers of air freight in Sri Lanka?
Tonne-kilometers of air freight in Sri Lanka was 278.50 million million ton-km in 2023, according to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest tonne-kilometers of air freight recorded in Sri Lanka?
The highest recorded value was 436.20 million million ton-km in 2018.
What is the lowest tonne-kilometers of air freight recorded in Sri Lanka?
The lowest recorded value was 500,000 million ton-km in 1978.
How does Sri Lanka rank for tonne-kilometers of air freight?
Sri Lanka ranks 49th out of 180 countries with data for 2023.
Is tonne-kilometers of air freight rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
Over the last ten years it is down 27.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
The figures come from International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Tonne-kilometers of air freight. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 54 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Tonne-kilometers of air freight
Unit
million ton-km
Source
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
180 places, 7,506 data points, 1970–2023
Last refreshed

Air freight is the volume of freight, express, and diplomatic bags carried on each flight stage (operation of an aircraft from takeoff to its next landing), measured in metric tonnes times kilometers traveled.