Rajarata, Sabara.getting rich fast!

Excluding the North and East Provinces, people in Rajarata and Sabaragamuwa are getting richer faster, whilst the pace for those in the more prosperous Western and Southern Provinces is slower.

This is one way of interpreting the latest provincial GDP data released by the Central Bank yesterday.

The North Central per capita income rose by 18.78% or Rs. 34,000 to Rs. 215,000 in 2010 whilst Sabaragamuwa’s per capita income grew by 18.3% or Rs. 28,000 to Rs. 181,000 in 2010 over the previous year.

Per capita income of the richest province, Western grew by only 12.8% or Rs. 49,000 to Rs. 430,000 whilst that of the second richest, the Southern Province, improved by 16.9% or Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 241,000 in 2010.

Growth of the Western Province also lagged behind the country figure of 14.8% and it was joined by the North Western Province (third richest) up by 11.94% to Rs. 225,000 and Uva, where the per capita income improved by 13% to Rs. 190,000.

Understandably, as a direct result of the post-war rebound, the per capita income of the Northern Province grew at the fastest pace of 22.9% from a low base to Rs. 161,000, whilst the relatively richer Eastern Province saw its figure grow by 16.4% to Rs. 212,000. The Central Province’s per capita income grew by 16.8% to Rs. 208,000.

In 2010 the GDP at current prices grew by 15.9%, and reached Rs. 5,602 billion with a per capita income of Rs. 271,259, equivalent to US$ 2,399.

The Western Province made the highest contribution to GDP in 2010. However, its share in GDP reduced to 45.1% from 45.8% in 2009. As in 2009, the Southern Province provided the second highest contribution, which was 10.7%, an increase compared to 10.5% in 2009.

The Central Province provided the third highest contribution, maintaining its relative position compared to 2009 and managing to increase its GDP contribution to 10.0% in 2010. However, the contribution of the North Western Province declined to 9.4% in 2010 from 9.6% in 2009. The contributions to GDP from Northern, Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces increased in 2010 while that of the Uva Province was unchanged.

Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP) for 2010 has been compiled by the Statistics Department of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, based on the disaggregation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).

The Central Bank said that in line with improvements in the country’s economic environment, all the provinces had reported a double digit growth rate in 2010. Reflecting the rapid expansion in income generating activities in the Northern Province, GDP growth rate was highest in the province at 22.9%. Its contribution to GDP also increased from 3.2% in 2009 to 3.4% in 2010.

The North Central Province has reported a 20.3% GDP growth rate, which is the second highest among all the provinces. Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Provinces also reported high GDP growth rates of 19.1% and 18.7% respectively.

As in the past, the Western Province contributed significantly to GDP in the country, as most of the economic activities that relate to sea port, air ports, banking and financial institutions and business centres are still centralised in the province. Even though the Western Province accounts for the highest share of GDP by far, the slight reduction in its relative share in 2010 indicates a further reduction in the disparity among provinces.

Per capita income in the Western Province, which stood at US$ 3,808 (Rs. 430,488) was 1.6 times the national per capita income in 2010. Per capita income in all other provinces continued to fall below the national per capita income. Also in all provinces, this ratio was unchanged except in the Sabaragamuwa Province, where the relevant ratio increased.

In the sectoral contribution to GDP of the provinces, there are considerable variations in the structure of GDP across the provinces. Agriculture accounted for just 3% of GDP in the Western Province in 2010, whereas it accounted for over 16% of GDP in the other provinces. In the Uva Province, agriculture accounted for more than 30% of GDP.

In all provinces industry accounted for between 14.2% and 34.8% of GDP in 2010. The services sector was the most dominant single sector accounting for between 48.3% and 69.8% of the GDP in the different provinces.

The contribution of the agriculture sector to GDP of the Western, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces increased in 2010 compared to 2009, while that of the other provinces decreased. The contribution from the industry sector declined in the Western, Eastern, Uva and Sabragamuwa Provinces in 2010 but expanded in the other provinces. The greatest contribution to GDP from this sector was observed in the Southern Province.

Despite the contribution from the industry sector to GDP being lowest in the Northern Province, it experienced the greatest expansion in its contribution during the period 2009-2010. Meanwhile, the contribution from the service sector increased in the Western, Eastern and North Central Provinces but declined in all other provinces during 2010.