Tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Tariff rate across all products was 4.4% in 2021. ◆ Volatile
Tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka, 1990–2021
Source: World Bank (WITS), UNCTAD (TRAINS), and World Trade Organization (WTO) (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka is 4.4%, measured in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 30.6% on the previous year and down 43.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka peaked at 31.2% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 4.4%, in 2021.
Sri Lanka ranks 88th of 184 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.
Tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 29.0% | — |
| 1993 | 31.2% | +7.8% |
| 1994 | 31.2% | -0.2% |
| 1997 | 25.9% | -16.9% |
| 1998 | 9.9% | -61.8% |
| 2000 | 6.8% | -31.4% |
| 2001 | 6.5% | -3.4% |
| 2003 | 6.3% | -4.3% |
| 2004 | 6.7% | +7.3% |
| 2005 | 7.6% | +12.3% |
| 2006 | 7.2% | -4.4% |
| 2007 | 7.2% | -0.6% |
| 2008 | 7.1% | -1.0% |
| 2009 | 7.2% | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 8.0% | +11.5% |
| 2011 | 7.7% | -4.5% |
| 2012 | 7.0% | -8.2% |
| 2014 | 7.1% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 4.4% | -37.5% |
| 2017 | 8.7% | +96.8% |
| 2018 | 12.1% | +38.5% |
| 2019 | 13.3% | +10.1% |
| 2020 | 6.3% | -52.8% |
| 2021 | 4.4% | -30.6% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 4.4% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 1.1× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 4.4% is below the median for South Asia, which is 7.7%, 57% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +96.8% | 4.4% | 8.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 25.4% | 9.9% | 31.2% | 5 |
| 2000s | 7.0% | 6.3% | 7.6% | 9 |
| 2010s | 8.5% | 4.4% | 13.3% | 8 |
| 2020s | 5.3% | 4.4% | 6.3% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More reference data data for Sri Lanka
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1608 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.316 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1784 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.539 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1604 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.15 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9713 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka?
- Tariff rate across all products in Sri Lanka was 4.4% in 2021, according to World Bank (WITS), UNCTAD (TRAINS), and World Trade Organization (WTO) (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest tariff rate across all products recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 31.2% in 1993.
- What is the lowest tariff rate across all products recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.4% in 2021.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for tariff rate across all products?
- Sri Lanka ranks 88th out of 184 countries with data for 2021.
- Is tariff rate across all products rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 43.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank (WITS), UNCTAD (TRAINS), and World Trade Organization (WTO) (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Tariff rate across all products. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Weighted mean applied tariff is the average of effectively applied rates weighted by the product import shares corresponding to each partner country.