Only One in Five Sri Lankan Households Owns a Computer, DCS Finds

Computer ownership remains relatively low among Sri Lankan households, with only 21.3% reporting access to at least one desktop or laptop in 2025, according to the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).

The figure was published in the DCS Computer Literacy Statistics 2025 Annual Bulletin, based on a nationwide sample of 25,000 households and individuals between the ages of five and 69. The 2025 estimates were adjusted using information from the 2024 Census of Population and Housing.

Access to computers differed considerably depending on where households were located. In the urban sector, 37.8% of households had a desktop or laptop, compared with 18.6% in rural areas. The estate sector recorded a much lower rate of 5.2%.

A notable provincial gap was also recorded. The Western Province had the highest household computer ownership rate at 34%, followed by the Central Province at 20.3% and Sabaragamuwa at 19.4%.

North Western Province recorded 17.5%, while the figure stood at 17.4% in the Southern Province. Uva recorded 14.1%, followed by North Central Province at 12.9% and the Eastern Province at 12.5%. Northern Province had the lowest proportion, at 10.1%.

The DCS noted that household ownership of desktop and laptop computers has remained between 19% and 21% from 2023 to 2025.

However, computer ownership contrasts with the country's broader level of digital literacy. The survey found that 72% of people aged five to 69 were digitally literate in 2025, while computer literacy stood at 39.2%.

The data also points to a strong reliance on mobile technology for digital activities. Smartphones accounted for 80.6% of device usage recorded in the survey, compared with 17.4% for desktop and laptop computers.

Computer literacy itself showed significant differences between residential sectors. The urban sector recorded a rate of 54%, compared with 37.1% in the rural sector and 19.5% in the estate sector.

At provincial level, Western Province recorded the highest computer literacy rate at 50.2%. North Central Province recorded the lowest at 24.3%.

National computer literacy increased by 3.3 percentage points from 2024, reaching 39.2% in 2025.

The DCS defines a computer-literate person as someone between the ages of five and 69 who is capable of using a computer independently.

Computer literacy surveys have been conducted periodically by the DCS since 2004. Since 2014, the relevant survey module has been incorporated into the Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey.