Sri Lanka Demographics Profile 2013

Population

21,481,334 (July 2012 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 24.9% (male 2,723,657/female 2,615,425)
15-24 years: 15.3% (male 1,665,204/female 1,623,135)
25-54 years: 42.6% (male 4,464,868/female 4,685,274)
55-64 years: 9.1% (male 911,494/female 1,050,482)
65 years and over: 8.1% (male 747,433/female 994,362) (2012 est.)

Median age

total: 31.1 years
male: 30.1 years
female: 32.2 years (2012 est.)

Population growth rate

0.913% (2012 est.)

Birth rate

17.04 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

5.96 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

Net migration rate

-1.95 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 14% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.1% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population

COLOMBO (capital) 681,000 (2009)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 9.47 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 10.44 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 8.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.94 years
male: 72.43 years
female: 79.59 years (2012 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.17 children born/woman (2012 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

less than 0.1% (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

2,800 (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

fewer than 200 (2009 est.)

Sanitation facility access

improved:
urban: 88% of population
rural: 92% of population
total: 91% of population
unimproved:
urban: 12% of population
rural: 8% of population
total: 9% of population

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
vectorborne disease: dengue fever and chikungunya
water contact disease: leptospirosis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality

noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan

Ethnic groups

Sinhalese 73.8%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)

Religions

Buddhist (official) 69.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Hindu 7.1%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10% (2001 census provisional data)

Languages

Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8%
note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.2%
male: 92.6%
female: 90% (2010 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 13 years
male: 12 years
female: 13 years (2004)

Education expenditures

NA

Maternal mortality rate

35 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

21.1% (2007)

Health expenditures

4% of GDP (2009)

Physicians density

0.492 physicians/1,000 population (2006)

Hospital bed density

3.1 beds/1,000 population (2004)