Sri Lanka’s Prosperity Index increased in 2018 with improvements in all provincial indices

The Sri Lanka Prosperity Index ( SLPI), increased to 0.783 in 2018 from 0.548 recorded in 2017. All three sub-indices of SLPI, namely ‘ Economy and Business Climate’, ‘ Well- being of the People’ and ‘ SocioEconomic Infrastructure’ contributed to this increase, the Central Bank said in a public announcement on Thursday.

The Economy and Business Climate sub- index improved mainly due to price stability and increase in informal sector wages during 2018. With regard to the sub- index of Well- being of the People, major improvements were recorded in the aspects of health facilitation, quality of education, wealth of people and purity of the environment. The Socio- Economic Infrastructure sub- index also increased slightly during 2018 mainly due to the improvements in availability of electricity, transportation, and Information and Communication Technology ( ICT) facilities and pipe borne water quality.

The SLPI is a composite indicator compiled by the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to measure the level of prosperity of the country. The index comprises three sub-indices, i.e. Economy and Business Climate, Well-being of the People and Socio- Economic Infrastructure measured using 43 variables representing different aspects of prosperity.

Provincial Prosperity

The Provincial prosperity indices, which were compiled to measure the level of prosperity across provinces, increased in all nine provinces. The Western province led with the highest values of provincial prosperity index and its sub- indices. Meanwhile, the highest increase of provincial prosperity index was recorded from the Sabaragamuwa province mainly due to improvements within its Economy and Business Climate sub-index driven by price stability and increase in informal sector wages.

Economy and Business Climate Sub-Index

The Economy and Business Climate sub- index increased in all provinces and improvements were recorded in price stability and informal sector wages. The highest increase within the sub- index was recorded from the Northern province with improvements in employment aspects in addition to the factors mentioned above.

Well-being of the People Sub-Index

Well- being of the People sub- index improved in all provinces predominantly due to improvements in the aspects of quality of education, purity of environment and wealth of people where vehicle ownership and access to supermarkets increased. The Sabaragamuwa province recorded the highest increase within this sub-index even though the aspect of vehicle ownership has declined when in all other provinces an improvement in this aspect could be observed.

Socio-Economic Infrastructure Sub-Index

The Socio- Economic Infrastructure sub- index recorded increases in eight provinces. The improvements were mainly due to enhanced availability of electricity and ICT facilities. The highest increase within the sub-index was recorded from Western province with improvements in road developments, transportation facilities, enhanced crime free environment and pipe borne water quality, in addition to the above factors. Meanwhile, the deterioration of the sub- index in the Eastern province was mainly due to the subdued levels of telecommunication facilities, road developments, crime free environment and female participation in civic activities.

Well-being of the People sub-index improved in all provinces predominantly due to improvements in the aspects of quality of education, purity of environment and wealth of people where vehicle ownership and access to supermarkets increased.