Lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Lakes and rivers seasonal water area was 1.6% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka, 2000–2022
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 1.6% for lakes and rivers seasonal water area in 2022. That is the highest value across all 23 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.5% on the previous year and up 24.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka peaked at 1.6% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2000.
Sri Lanka ranks 18th of 221 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.1% | — |
| 2001 | 0.3% | +204.6% |
| 2002 | 0.5% | +78.4% |
| 2003 | 0.7% | +50.2% |
| 2004 | 1.0% | +33.2% |
| 2005 | 1.2% | +18.8% |
| 2006 | 1.3% | +7.5% |
| 2007 | 1.3% | +5.3% |
| 2008 | 1.3% | -0.8% |
| 2009 | 1.3% | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 1.4% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 1.3% | -3.6% |
| 2012 | 1.3% | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 1.3% | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 1.3% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 1.3% | -3.1% |
| 2016 | 1.3% | +5.2% |
| 2017 | 1.4% | +2.5% |
| 2018 | 1.4% | +2.4% |
| 2019 | 1.5% | +3.2% |
| 2020 | 1.5% | +4.8% |
| 2021 | 1.6% | +3.8% |
| 2022 | 1.6% | +2.5% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 1.6% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.4%, 4.5× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 1.6% is above the median for South Asia, which is 1.6%, 1.0× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | +204.6% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| 2002 | +78.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| 2003 | +50.2% | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| 2004 | +33.2% | 0.7% | 1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.9% | 0.1% | 1.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 5.49 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.207 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.849 °C (2025)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Export quantity, gaps filled 2 t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Agricultural Use, gaps filled 140,628 t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Agricultural Use, annual growth rate 17.95 % change on previous year (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Import quantity, gaps filled 15,157 t (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Import quantity, annual growth rate -23.28 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka?
- Lakes and rivers seasonal water area in Sri Lanka was 1.6% in 2022, according to United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database.
- What is the highest lakes and rivers seasonal water area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 1.6% in 2022.
- What is the lowest lakes and rivers seasonal water area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2000.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for lakes and rivers seasonal water area?
- Sri Lanka ranks 18th out of 221 countries with data for 2022.
- Is lakes and rivers seasonal water area rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Statistics Division, SDG Global Database, published as part of Lakes and rivers seasonal water area (% of total land area). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under UN SDG Global Database (open, attribution requested).