The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), in its quarterly reports, says 2,565,365 Sri Lankans have left the country for various reasons in the past two years.
According to its statistics, 1,127,758 Sri Lankans had gone overseas in 2022 and 1,437,607 more in 2023.
However, only a total of 608,925 Sri Lankans (24 pc) have gone overseas for employment.
That is 311,269 and 297,656 in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
The monthly average figure of Sri Lankans who migrated to foreign countries for employment in 2022 is 25,939.
In 2023, that figure stood at 24,805.
Statistics saythat 70 pc of those who migrated in 2023 were skilled and professional workers.
