Sri Lanka’s Services PMI climbed to 56.9 in May 2026 from 46.7 in April, indicating a solid rebound in services activity. The upturn was led by the financial, professional, and personal services sub-sectors, with real estate, IT programming, and goods transportation also recording notable gains.
New business rose to 58.0 from 48.9, driven chiefly by financial and professional services, and further supported by wholesale and retail trade, personal services, and goods transportation. Expectations for business activity over the next three months remained firmly positive, though they eased slightly to 64.7 from 65.9. These upbeat expectations were underpinned by anticipated tourist arrivals during the Perahera season and an improving macroeconomic environment.
In contrast, employment (49.4 vs 44.4) and backlogs of work (48.1 vs 48.8) stayed below the neutral 50 threshold, indicating that labor demand and outstanding workloads have yet to fully recover in line with the broader services expansion.
