Statizoid

Population in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Population was 22.97 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
22.97 million people
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
61st
of 238 countries
All-time high
22.97 million people
in 2023
All-time low
800,000 people
in 1000
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Sri Lanka, 1000–2023

05.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M25.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

Sri Lanka recorded 22.97 million people for population in 2023. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.6% on the previous year and up 7.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Sri Lanka peaked at 22.97 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 800,000 people, in 1000.

That places Sri Lanka 61st out of 238 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 800,000 people 800,000 people 800,000 people 1
1100s 900,000 people 900,000 people 900,000 people 1
1200s 1.00 million people 1.00 million people 1.00 million people 1
1300s 970,000 people 970,000 people 970,000 people 1
1400s 930,000 people 930,000 people 930,000 people 1
1500s 1.00 million people 1.00 million people 1.00 million people 1
1600s 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1
1700s 1.50 million people 1.50 million people 1.50 million people 1
1710s 1.51 million people 1.51 million people 1.51 million people 1
1720s 1.48 million people 1.48 million people 1.48 million people 1
1730s 1.45 million people 1.45 million people 1.45 million people 1
1740s 1.42 million people 1.42 million people 1.42 million people 1
1750s 1.39 million people 1.39 million people 1.39 million people 1
1760s 1.37 million people 1.37 million people 1.37 million people 1
1770s 1.34 million people 1.34 million people 1.34 million people 1
1780s 1.31 million people 1.31 million people 1.31 million people 1
1790s 1.29 million people 1.29 million people 1.29 million people 1
1800s 1.61 million people 1.48 million people 1.75 million people 10
1810s 1.34 million people 1.25 million people 1.46 million people 10
1820s 1.33 million people 1.24 million people 1.45 million people 10
1830s 1.63 million people 1.48 million people 1.78 million people 10
1840s 1.99 million people 1.81 million people 2.16 million people 10
1850s 2.07 million people 1.96 million people 2.17 million people 10
1860s 2.30 million people 1.97 million people 2.70 million people 10
1870s 2.94 million people 2.78 million people 3.06 million people 10
1880s 3.25 million people 3.09 million people 3.41 million people 10
1890s 3.71 million people 3.45 million people 3.99 million people 10
1900s 4.41 million people 4.06 million people 4.78 million people 10
1910s 5.16 million people 4.86 million people 5.44 million people 10
1920s 5.72 million people 5.50 million people 5.94 million people 10
1930s 6.19 million people 5.99 million people 6.41 million people 10
1940s 7.09 million people 6.49 million people 7.76 million people 10
1950s 8.57 million people 7.81 million people 9.43 million people 10
1960s 10.81 million people 9.66 million people 12.01 million people 10
1970s 13.43 million people 12.29 million people 14.58 million people 10
1980s 15.56 million people 14.85 million people 16.25 million people 10
1990s 17.51 million people 16.35 million people 18.94 million people 10
2000s 20.12 million people 19.29 million people 20.76 million people 10
2010s 21.64 million people 20.88 million people 22.41 million people 10
2020s 22.77 million people 22.56 million people 22.97 million people 4

Countries ranked near Sri Lanka

  1. 58 Syria 23.59 million people compare
  2. 59 Taiwan 23.32 million people compare
  3. 60 Burkina Faso 23.03 million people compare
  4. 62 Malawi 21.10 million people compare
  5. 63 Zambia 20.72 million people compare
  6. 64 Kazakhstan 20.33 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Sri Lanka

All data for Sri Lanka →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Sri Lanka?
Population in Sri Lanka was 22.97 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Sri Lanka?
The highest recorded value was 22.97 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Sri Lanka?
The lowest recorded value was 800,000 people in 1000.
How does Sri Lanka rank for population?
Sri Lanka ranks 61st out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.