Fact Check
In an interview with the Sunday Lankadeepa newspaper, Professor Wasantha Athukorala claimed that Sri Lanka’s defence force is equivalent to 3.47% of its workforce and that this proportion is higher than in several other countries, some of which are included in the quote. He cites these figures to support his broader claim that Sri Lanka has the largest defence sector relative to its workforce in the region.
To check this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted data from the World Bank (WB) Development Indicator, specifically the measure of “armed forces personnel (% of total labour force).” FactCheck.lk interprets “defence force” as “armed forces personnel” and “workforce” as “labour force”, which is consistent with the terminology used by the World Bank.
According to the most recent available data (2020), Sri Lanka ranks 11th globally out of 215 countries in terms of armed forces personnel as a percentage of the labour force. This places Sri Lanka ahead of all the countries mentioned by the professor, and at the top of the South Asian region, with Pakistan ranking second in size, with only one-third the proportion of Sri Lanka. A previous fact-check based on a per capita measurement instead of labour force placed Sri Lanka 9th globally for “armed forces personnel per 100 citizens.”
The figures provided by the professor for other countries match the World Bank data exactly. The only discrepancy is for Sri Lanka, where the professor quoted 3.47%, while the World Bank records 3.74%. This is difference is likely a transposition error (flipping 74 to 47). Exhibit 1 presents these comparative figures.
In sum, the data support the professor’s claim that Sri Lanka does, indeed, maintain a larger defence force relative to its labour force than the countries listed for comparison.
Therefore, we classify the professor’s statement as TRUE.
*FactCheck.lk’s verdict is based on the most recent information that is publicly accessible. As with every fact check, if new information becomes available, FactCheck.lk will revisit the assessment.
Exhibit 1: Armed Forces Personnel as % of Labour Force (2020)
Sources
World Development Indicators, World Bank. https://databank.worldbank.org/reports.aspx?source=2&series=MS.MIL.TOTL.TF.ZS&country=#.