Sri Lanka population
Sri Lanka: 21.8 million people in 2025 (21,756,000), 62nd of 217 countries and areas — and 23.1 million projected for 2050.
Compare Sri Lanka with another country
Where it stands
In 2025 Sri Lanka has 21,756,000 people, which is 0.27% of the 8.19 billion counted across the 217 countries and areas on this site. That puts it 62nd by population, behind Zambia and ahead of Chad.
Since 1960
In 1960 the figure was 9,661,389. Since then the population has grown 2.25×, an average of 1.26% a year upward. It doubled at some point along the way — the year it first reached 19,322,778 was 2001.
The projection keeps rising to the end of the data: 23,090,710 in 2050, 6.1% above 2025. The highest figure on this page is that last one, so no peak has been reached yet.
The ranking in 2050
In 2050 the projected rank is 71st, down 9 places from 62nd. Rankings move when other countries grow faster or slower, not only when Sri Lanka changes.
People and land
Sri Lanka covers 61,860 km² of land, so 2025 density is 352 people per km² — 33rd most crowded of 216 places with an area figure. At that density a square 10 km on a side holds about 35,170 people.
The fertility rate was 1.95 births per woman in 2024, below the roughly 2.1 needed to keep a population steady without migration; life expectancy at birth was 77.7 years (2024); 21.7% of people were under 15 and 12.5% were 65 or older (2025); 20% of the population lived in cities. These shape the curve above: a young population keeps growing after fertility falls, an old one starts shrinking sooner.
Its nearest neighbours in the ranking are Zambia just above, with 21.9 million (1.01× as many), and Chad just below, with 21 million (1.04× as many as Chad has).
How the numbers are taken. Total population from the World Bank's population estimates and projections (built from United Nations and national statistics). Values to 2025 are estimates; 2026–2050 are projections that continue current fertility, mortality and migration trends. Sources and limits.