Economy

Sri Lanka named Most Beautiful Island in the World 2025

Published

9 months ago

July 30, 2025

Global travel website ‘Big 7 Travel’ has officially released its annual list of the top 50 best islands in the world and has ranked Sri Lanka in the first spot as ‘The Most Beautiful Island in the World’ for 2025.

With destinations from across the globe, the list celebrates unique island experiences and inspiring places to explore in 2025.

This year’s ranking highlights a mix of trending destinations, remote escapes and iconic favourites. The list is based on aggregated scores from previous media results, contributions from the Big 7 Travel editorial team, destination popularity on social media, and destinations capturing travellers’ attention in 2025.

Sri Lanka has been ranked first in the list followed by Mo’orea of French Polynesia and Yemen’s Socotra. The Portuguese island of Madeira and the The Galapagos of Ecuador round out the top 5 of the list.

“This teardrop-shaped island off the southern coast of India has it all, from golden beaches to terraced tea plantations. Whiling away blissful days beach-hopping along the 833-mile coastline is part of the charm, but Sri Lanka offers much more beyond the shore,” the global travel site says about Sri Lanka.

“Itineraries fill up quickly here, between the timeworn temples, colonial towns, misty mountains, and wildlife safaris in Yala National Park, home to tigers and elephants. It’s easy to see why Marco Polo called Sri Lanka ‘the finest island of its size in all the world’,” it said.

For this year’s annual ranking of the world’s best islands, Big 7 Travel has combined insights from its social audience with the expertise of its editorial team.

Economy

Sri Lanka literacy hits record 97.4%, gender gap closes for first time

Published

2 hours ago

April 12, 2026

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Sri Lanka has achieved a historic education milestone, with literacy rising to 97.4% in 2024, up from 95.7% in 2012.

For the first time since 1881, the literacy gender gap has closed, with males at 97.9% and females at 97.0%.

Digital literacy has reached 67.6%, while computer literacy stands at 34.7%, highlighting Sri Lanka’s growing digital transformation.

Economy

$ 900 m in four months: Port City Colombo signals new investment era

Published

1 day ago

April 11, 2026

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From November 2025 to March, Port City Colombo secured approximately $ 900 million in investments, an almost unprecedented surge for a project that had seen gradual traction in its early years amid broader macroeconomic challenges. The timing is not accidental.

After a prolonged period marked by the Easter Sunday attacks, the global shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, the project remained largely in a holding pattern.

International marketing efforts began to gain momentum from late 2025 onwards, as conditions began to stabilise.

“The macro story had to align first,” Aluwihare explained. “You cannot market a country when the fundamentals are unstable. Now, we are seeing recovery, policy alignment, and growing confidence, and we are finally seeing the results.”

From real estate to a ring-fenced financial ecosystem

Port City Colombo’s most significant transformation has been conceptual rather than physical. Originally envisioned as a waterfront real estate development, it has evolved into a fully ring-fenced services export Special Economic Zone (SEZ), enabled by the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act.

Economy

Sri Lanka’s Official Reserves fall 3.5%in March – CBSL

Published

3 days ago

April 9, 2026

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Sri Lanka’s Official Reserve Assets have decreased by 3.5% to USD 7,019 million in March 2026, according to the latest data of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The CBSL states that the decrease is from USD 7,270 million reported in February 2026.

The CBSL further states that the figure for March includes the swap arrangement with the People’s Bank of China.