Rankings

Budget records

Biggest rises, deepest cuts, fastest growth and other records in Sri Lanka's budgets, worked out from the official Appropriation Acts from 2008 to 2027.

Amounts are as printed in each year's Bill, not adjusted for inflation, so later years look larger partly because prices rose. Head changes compare 2027 with 2026, the last year before it with Head-level data.

A big jump or cut is not always a real change in what the government does. When ministries are reorganised, whole functions move from one Head to another, so one Head shows a large rise and another a fall. Open a Head's page to see its history before drawing a conclusion.

Biggest rises in 2027

  1. Department of Treasury Operations+Rs 355 billion to Rs 4.86 trillion
  2. Department of National Budget+Rs 198 billion to Rs 363 billion
  3. Department of Pensions+Rs 65.5 billion to Rs 632 billion
  4. Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development+Rs 38.4 billion to Rs 409 billion
  5. Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment+Rs 37.9 billion to Rs 46.6 billion
  6. Minister of Health and Mass Media+Rs 37.2 billion to Rs 550 billion
  7. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development+Rs 25.8 billion to Rs 278 billion
  8. Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education+Rs 15.5 billion to Rs 206 billion
  9. University Grants Commission+Rs 11.5 billion to Rs 105 billion
  10. Department of Sri Lanka Railways+Rs 11.4 billion to Rs 81.6 billion

Deepest cuts in 2027

  1. Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply-Rs 20.7 billion to Rs 77.7 billion
  2. Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation-Rs 12 billion to Rs 139 billion
  3. Department of Posts-Rs 1.6 billion to Rs 28 billion
  4. Department of National Planning-Rs 1.3 billion to Rs 6.2 billion
  5. District Secretariat, Kurunegala-Rs 1.1 billion to Rs 5.3 billion
  6. Department of Meteorology-Rs 1 billion to Rs 3.3 billion
  7. District Secretariat, Kandy-Rs 970 million to Rs 3.5 billion
  8. District Secretariat, Rathnapura-Rs 875 million to Rs 2.8 billion
  9. District Secretariat, Gampaha-Rs 814 million to Rs 3.1 billion
  10. District Secretariat ,Matara-Rs 811 million to Rs 3.3 billion

Fastest growth in 2027

Only Heads that had at least Rs 1 billion the year before are ranked, so a tiny office that doubled does not top the list.

  1. Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment+434% to Rs 46.6 billion
  2. Department of Sri Lanka Coast Guard+312.2% to Rs 5.3 billion
  3. Department of National Budget+120.8% to Rs 363 billion
  4. Department of Animal Production and Health+116.8% to Rs 6.1 billion
  5. Minister of Digital Economy+88.4% to Rs 22.1 billion
  6. Department of Motor Traffic+87.2% to Rs 9 billion
  7. Election Commission+59.2% to Rs 10.6 billion
  8. Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development+53.5% to Rs 2.1 billion
  9. Department of Social Services+53% to Rs 3.8 billion
  10. Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure+49.1% to Rs 24.2 billion

Biggest Heads in 2027

  1. Department of Treasury OperationsRs 4.86 trillion
  2. Department of PensionsRs 632 billion
  3. Minister of Health and Mass MediaRs 550 billion
  4. Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban DevelopmentRs 409 billion
  5. Department of National BudgetRs 363 billion
  6. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic DevelopmentRs 278 billion
  7. Sri Lanka ArmyRs 240 billion
  8. Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational EducationRs 206 billion
  9. Department of PoliceRs 167 billion
  10. Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and IrrigationRs 139 billion

Biggest year-on-year jumps in total spending

  1. 2010+81.7% (Rs 801 billion more than 2009), now Rs 1.78 trillion
  2. 2023+53.6% (Rs 2.75 trillion more than 2022), now Rs 7.88 trillion
  3. 2015+19.9% (Rs 506 billion more than 2014), now Rs 3.05 trillion
  4. 2018+19.4% (Rs 648 billion more than 2017), now Rs 3.98 trillion
  5. 2012+15.8% (Rs 304 billion more than 2011), now Rs 2.22 trillion

Years when the total fell

  1. 2024-0.7% (Rs 52.7 billion less than 2023), now Rs 7.83 trillion

Debt servicing as a share of the budget

Years with a Second Schedule only (the 2008 and 2009 Acts have none). It includes interest and loan repayments.

Highest

  1. 202352.8% (Rs 4.16 trillion)
  2. 202551.4% (Rs 4.54 trillion)
  3. 202250.3% (Rs 2.58 trillion)
  4. 202449.8% (Rs 3.90 trillion)
  5. 202649.7% (Rs 4.47 trillion)

Lowest

  1. 201636.8% (Rs 1.15 trillion)
  2. 201438.2% (Rs 973 billion)
  3. 201539.8% (Rs 1.21 trillion)
  4. 201241.2% (Rs 914 billion)
  5. 202041.3% (Rs 1.95 trillion)

Highest borrowing limits

  1. 2023Rs 4.43 trillion
  2. 2025Rs 4.00 trillion
  3. 2024Rs 3.90 trillion
  4. 2026Rs 3.80 trillion
  5. 2027Rs 3.80 trillion

Every figure comes from the Head and year pages. Spotted something that looks wrong? Tell us.

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