Sri Lanka
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Capital
- Colombo
- Region
- Southern Asia
- Population, 2025
- 22 million
- Currency
- LKR
- Area
- 65,610 km²
Across Sri Lanka's 43 priced cities, one person needs about $527 a month, rent included; the average net salary is $242.
Livability
The same seven domains as for cities, scored at country level; safety falls back to the homicide rate where Numbeo has no survey.
56out of 100
- Purchasing power25%30
- Safety20%58
- Health care15%71
- Climate10%64
- Air quality10%94
- Connectivity10%14
- Cost10%96
How each domain is scored
- Purchasing power, 25%
- What a local net salary buys against local prices, as a percentile.
- Safety, 20%
- Numbeo safety index for the city, or for its country when the city has no survey.
- Health care, 15%
- Numbeo health care index, city first, then country.
- Climate, 10%
- Numbeo climate index where surveyed, otherwise a comfort score from NASA climate normals.
- Air quality, 10%
- 30-day mean US AQI on a 0-100 scale: 100 at AQI 25 or cleaner, 0 at 150 or worse.
- Connectivity, 10%
- Percentile of median fixed broadband download speed, city first, then country.
- Cost, 10%
- Cheaper places score higher: the percentile of the cost-of-living plus rent index, inverted.
- Livability rank among countries
- #83
What it costs
Averages over the country’s cities, weighted by population. New York = 100.
Cost of living index
24.2
New York = 100, rent excluded
Rent index
6.2
New York = 100
Purchasing power
41.9
New York = 100
One person
$527
A month, rent included
Net salary
$242
Average, a month after tax
Rent, one bedroom in the centre
$305
A month
Economy
World Bank development indicators; each figure is the latest year with data.
GDP per person
$5,002
2025
Growth
+5.0%
2025
Unemployment
4.0%
2025
Inflation
−4.8%
2025
Life expectancy
77.7 years
2024
Internet users
55%
2024
Taxes
Headline rates side by side from three references, with the source of each.
- Top income tax rate
- 18%
- SourceTrading Economics
- Lowest income tax rate
- 0%
- SourceWikipedia
- Corporate tax
- 30%
- SourceTrading Economics
- VAT or sales tax
- 18%
- SourceTrading Economics
- Capital gains, individuals
- 10%
- SourceWikipedia
- Social security, employee
- 8%
- SourceTrading Economics
- Social security, employer
- 12%
- SourceTrading Economics
Headline statutory rates as of Sep 2026; brackets, allowances and regional taxes change what a given person pays.
Safety and internet
Numbeo’s crime survey, the World Bank homicide series and the Speedtest Global Index.
Safety
- Safety indexNumbeo, higher is safer
- 57.5
- Crime indexNumbeo, lower is better
- 42.5
- HomicidesPer 100,000 people, 2019
- 3.3
Internet
- Fixed downloadMbps, median, #128 worldwide
- 37
- Mobile downloadMbps, median, #77 worldwide
- 59
- Change in a yearFixed download speed
- +16%
Cities in Sri Lanka
Sort by any column. Livability and cost use the same scales as every city page.
| 1Trincomalee | 66 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 108.4K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 2Jaffna | 64 | 21.9 | $151 | — | — | 169.1K | Low confidence, 4 contributors |
| 3Kandy | 60 | 18.9 | $174 | $262 | 65.6 | 111.7K | Medium confidence, 15 contributors |
| 4Moratuwa | 60 | — | — | — | — | 168.3K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 5Pita Kotte | 60 | — | — | — | — | 118.2K | Low confidence |
| 6Maharagama | 58 | 21.2 | — | $242 | 57.6 | 195.4K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 7Kadawatha | 57 | 21.9 | $90.75 | — | — | — | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 8Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | 56 | 23.4 | $305 | $305 | 53.0 | 115.8K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 9Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia | 56 | 22.9 | — | $212 | 47.9 | 219.8K | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 10Point Pedro | 56 | 18.8 | — | — | — | 89.8K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 11Wattala | 56 | 24.3 | $106 | — | — | 30.7K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 12Batticaloa | 56 | 22.9 | — | — | — | 86.7K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 13Vavuniya | 56 | 23.7 | — | — | — | 60.2K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 14Katunayaka | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 84.6K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 15Dambulla | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 66.7K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 16Anuradhapura | 56 | 24.4 | — | — | — | 60.9K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 17Kalutara | 56 | 24.3 | — | — | — | 37.1K | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 18Panadura | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 33.7K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 19Kandana | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 33.4K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 20Nuwara Eliya | 56 | 24.4 | — | — | — | 27.5K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 21Eravur | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 23K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 22Weligama | 56 | 24.4 | — | — | — | 22.2K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 23Kataragama | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 20.9K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 24Hatton | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 15.1K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 25Horana | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 9K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 26Minuwangoda | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | 7.8K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 27Kuliyapitiya | 56 | 24.4 | — | — | — | 6.9K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 28Ragama | 56 | 24.5 | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 29Hikkaduwa | 56 | 24.6 | — | — | — | — | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 30Battaramulla | 56 | 25.6 | — | — | — | 75.6K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 31Negombo | 56 | 21.5 | — | $183 | 43.2 | 137.2K | Low confidence, 4 contributors |
| 32Kalmunai | 55 | 24.4 | — | $151 | 32.7 | 100.2K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 33Piliyandala | 54 | 22.6 | $106 | $303 | 77.6 | — | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 34Galle | 53 | 21.3 | — | $312 | 73.9 | 93.1K | Medium confidence, 7 contributors |
| 35Gampaha | 53 | 19.0 | $90.75 | $227 | 69.1 | 9.4K | Medium confidence, 7 contributors |
| 36Badulla | 52 | 24.2 | $75.63 | $227 | 59.0 | 47.6K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 37Ratnapura | 51 | 20.2 | $76.12 | $171 | 51.3 | 47.8K | Low confidence, 0 contributors |
| 38Colombo | 51 | 24.8 | $582 | $248 | 29.8 | 648K | High confidence, 94 contributors |
| 39Puttalam | 50 | — | — | — | — | 45.7K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 40Chavakachcheri | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | Low confidence |
| 41Kegalle | 49 | 23.8 | $121 | $182 | 43.4 | 18K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 42Matale | 49 | 18.6 | — | $161 | 41.9 | 36.5K | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 43Homagama | 48 | 23.1 | $137 | $152 | 36.0 | 34.7K | Low confidence, 1 contributors |
| 44Kurunegala | 48 | 22.1 | — | $151 | 35.0 | 28.6K | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 45Beruwala | 47 | 24.2 | — | $152 | 33.1 | 34.3K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |
| 46Matara | 45 | 24.2 | $182 | $106 | 22.2 | 76.3K | Low confidence, 3 contributors |
| 47Amparai | 45 | 24.2 | — | $91.37 | 19.9 | 43.7K | Low confidence, 2 contributors |