Sri Lanka’s Labour Ministry has rejected the impression that the country’s position as the 120th lowest-ranked country in a global minimum wage comparison represents its current wage situation.
The Ministry said the ranking was based on data from 2024 published by Visual Capitalist and was not compiled or released by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
According to the Ministry, the ILO has confirmed that it had no role in producing the ranking. However, the figures may have been sourced from ILOSTAT, the organization’s publicly accessible database of comparable labour statistics, which includes information on statutory minimum wages and purchasing power parity-adjusted figures.
The Ministry noted that comparisons of minimum wages across countries need to be treated with caution. Wage systems can differ considerably depending on factors such as geographic coverage, sectors and occupations. A ranking based solely on minimum wage figures also does not necessarily show how widely those wages apply in practice or whether employers comply with them.
Sri Lanka’s wage structure has also changed considerably since the data used for the comparison was compiled.
At the start of 2024, the country’s national minimum wage was Rs. 12,500 per month. This was raised to Rs. 17,500 from September 11, 2024. Workers were also entitled to a mandatory Budgetary Relief Allowance of Rs. 3,500, bringing the applicable minimum monthly remuneration to Rs. 21,000.
The Ministry said it could not be determined from the reported ranking whether the calculation was based on the original Rs. 12,500 figure, the revised Rs. 17,500 wage, or whether the additional allowance had been taken into account.
Further increases followed. The national minimum wage rose to Rs. 27,000 in April 2025 and was subsequently increased to Rs. 30,000 in January 2026. The earlier Budgetary Relief Allowances were incorporated into the new minimum wage.
As a result, the current national minimum wage stands at Rs. 30,000 a month, compared with Rs. 12,500 at the beginning of 2024.
The Ministry said this represents an increase of more than 87% over the period and stressed that the 120th-place ranking, which relies on 2024 information, should not be interpreted as an indication of Sri Lanka’s present minimum wage level.
It urged that the international comparison be considered in the context of the subsequent wage increases and differences between national minimum wage systems.
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