Western province continued to account for largest share of economy in 2021

The Western province continued to be the largest contributor to the national output representing 42.6 percent of the nominal GDP (base year 2015) in 2021, with a marginal increase in its share on year-on-year basis, the Central Bank said yesterday releasing the Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP) estimates. 

North Western (11.1 percent) and Central (10.1 percent) provinces recorded second and third highest shares, respectively. Contribution to nominal GDP from Western, Sabaragamuwa and North Western provinces increased in 2021 compared to 2020, while that of Southern, Northern and Uva provinces remained unchanged. However, contributions from Central, Eastern and North Central provinces decreased marginally in 2021.

In terms of provincial contribution to economic activities, North Western province recorded the highest contribution to Agriculture activities with a share of 17.6 percent followed by Southern (14.3 percent) and Central (13.0 percent) provinces.

Western province continued to secure the highest shares of Industry activities with a contribution of 48.2 percent during 2021. North Western (11.5 percent) and Central provinces (9.5 percent) were the second and third largest contributors to overall Industry activities. 

With regard to Services activities, Western province contributed the most with a share of 44.7 percent followed by Central (10.0 percent), North Western (9.8 percent) and Southern (9.8 percent) provinces.

The composition of economic activities within provinces in 2021 highlights that Services activities played a major role contributing for more than 50 percent of GDP of each province, except for North Western (48.6 percent) and Eastern (48.0 percent) provinces.  The largest concentration of Industry activities was observed in Western province (33.7 percent) followed by North Western (31.1 percent) and Eastern (30.6 percent) provinces. In terms of Agriculture activities, concentration was highest in North Central province (19.9 percent) and lowest in Western province (2.1 percent) during the year.