Sri Lanka’s outward labour migration is expected to recover to around 120,000 persons in 2021 from the sharp decline that was recorded in 2020.
Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Ajith Nivard Cabraal said nearly 96,000 individuals departed the country for employment in the first eleven months of the year.
He further said outward labour migration declined sharply by 73.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 53,713 persons in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, around 40,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers had been repatriated to the country amid job losses and contract expiration in the first half of 2020 alone, Cabraal pointed out.
He said in December, 20,000-25,000 outward labour migrations are possible, adding that, however, these figures were still below the 203,087 labour departures reported in 2019. (NewsWire)