Traditional trio keeps provincial GDP ticking

Traditional provincial trio–Western, North Western and Central continue to lead in empowering the country’s economy as evidenced by latest data released by the Central Bank yesterday.

As per the assessment of ‘Provincial Gross Domestic Product’, the Western province increased its share in nominal GDP to 43.4%, continuously tightening the grip on the country’s economy during 2022, CBSL said.

It said the strong presence of the Western province is visible in most of the economic activities, especially in Services and Industry sectors.

North Western (11.2%) and Central (10%) provinces recorded second and third highest shares in the economy, respectively.

The contributions to nominal GDP from Western, North Western and Uva provinces increased in 2022 compared to 2021, while that of North Central province remained unchanged. Moreover, the Nominal GDP of all the provinces grew substantially during the year, mainly attributable to the significant increase in price levels.

CBSL explained that PGDP has been computed by its Statistics Department, using a top-down approach by disaggregating the nominal GDP compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics under the base year 2015. In the estimation of PGDP for the provinces, the value of each line item in GDP was apportioned using relevant indicators at the provincial level.

Considering the provincial contributions, North Western province recorded the highest contribution to Agriculture activities with a share of 18.3%, while Southern and Central provinces contributed by 14.6% and 13.7%, respectively.

Western province remained the largest contributor to Industry activities, recording a share of 49.2% in 2022. 

Further, North Western (11.8%) and Central provinces (9.1%) were the next major contributors to the total Industry activities.

In terms of Services activities, Western province continued dominance with a share of 45.2%, followed by Central (10%) and North Western (9.8%) provinces.

Services activities predominantly contributed to the economies of all the provinces. Accordingly, Southern (59.9%) and Western (58.5%) provinces recorded the highest Services shares. Regarding the Industry activities, the highest concentration was observed in Western province (34.4%), followed by North Western provinces (32%). Meanwhile, the contribution for Agriculture activities is higher in Eastern (17.2%) and Uva (15.5%) provinces compared to other provinces.