Fact Check
While addressing the public, Deputy Minister T. B. Sarath claimed that Sri Lanka has achieved an economic growth rate of 8.3%. In his broader statement, the deputy minister refers explicitly to the period since the current government took office following the September 2024 Presidential Election. The most relevant data for evaluating the growth claim are from Q4 2024 and Q1 2025—the first two quarters of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration, for which data have been published.
To verify this claim, FactCheck.lk consulted official GDP data published by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).
The quarterly growth rates for Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 were examined (see reasoning above). As shown in Exhibit 1, the year-on-year (YoY) growth in each of these two quarters (i.e. compared to the same quarter in the previous year) was 5.4% and 4.8%, respectively—well below the 8.3% figure cited by the deputy minister. The cumulative YoY growth in these two quarters was 5.1%, which also falls short of the 8.3% claim.
It is possible the deputy minister confused GDP growth with another economic indicator. The closest match that FactCheck.lk found in growth figures was the 8.4% growth in export revenues from July 2025 to January 2025. But exports account for only around one-fifth of the total GDP.
Overall, even if considered separately for each of the two quarters, since the current president took office in September 2024, or taken cumulatively for both quarters, at no point did Sri Lanka record a GDP growth rate of the result is 8.3%. The actuals were very much less.
Therefore, we classify the deputy minister’s statement as FALSE.
*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
Exhibit 1: Sri Lanka’s GDP Growth Rates
Sources
Gross Domestic Product, Department of Census and Statistics.