Sri Lanka, April 7 -- Before the 1970s, agriculture exports accounted for more than 75% of Sri Lanka's total exports while industrial exports were around 15%. But since the liberalisation of the economy in the late 1970s, industrial exports have grown more rapidly than agriculture exports. In 2019, export earnings from agriculture accounted for USD 2,523 million equivalent to just 15.9% of total export earnings.

Sri Lanka's agricultural exports are limited to a few products: tea accounts for 53.3% of total agricultural exports followed by coconut (24.3%) and spices (12.4%). Notably, the country's tea exports are equivalent to a mere 11.3% of total world tea exports, and the world export share for Sri Lanka's coconuts (2.62%) and spices (...