Share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Share of primary energy from hydropower was 7.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka, 1965–2025
Source: Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka stood at 7.9%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 10.9% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka peaked at 14.1% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 3.4%, in 1973.
Sri Lanka ranks 14th of 80 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 61 years of available data.
Share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 3.7% | — |
| 1966 | 4.0% | +6.5% |
| 1967 | 4.0% | +0.3% |
| 1968 | 4.5% | +12.2% |
| 1969 | 5.1% | +12.7% |
| 1970 | 4.0% | -20.1% |
| 1971 | 4.5% | +10.3% |
| 1972 | 4.4% | -2.4% |
| 1973 | 3.4% | -22.0% |
| 1974 | 5.9% | +74.8% |
| 1975 | 6.2% | +3.9% |
| 1976 | 6.5% | +5.4% |
| 1977 | 6.6% | +2.1% |
| 1978 | 7.2% | +8.4% |
| 1979 | 7.3% | +2.0% |
| 1980 | 7.4% | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 7.5% | +1.3% |
| 1982 | 7.0% | -5.7% |
| 1983 | 5.2% | -25.6% |
| 1984 | 9.0% | +73.2% |
| 1985 | 11.4% | +26.0% |
| 1986 | 12.1% | +6.1% |
| 1987 | 9.2% | -23.6% |
| 1988 | 11.6% | +25.2% |
| 1989 | 13.1% | +13.5% |
| 1990 | 13.3% | +0.8% |
| 1991 | 13.1% | -0.9% |
| 1992 | 11.0% | -16.1% |
| 1993 | 13.8% | +25.4% |
| 1994 | 13.7% | -0.7% |
| 1995 | 14.1% | +3.1% |
| 1996 | 8.9% | -37.0% |
| 1997 | 9.2% | +3.2% |
| 1998 | 9.9% | +7.8% |
| 1999 | 9.8% | -0.9% |
| 2000 | 6.8% | -31.0% |
| 2001 | 6.8% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 5.6% | -17.6% |
| 2003 | 6.8% | +21.8% |
| 2004 | 6.2% | -9.0% |
| 2005 | 6.3% | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 8.0% | +28.6% |
| 2007 | 6.6% | -18.3% |
| 2008 | 7.4% | +12.3% |
| 2009 | 6.8% | -8.3% |
| 2010 | 9.5% | +40.1% |
| 2011 | 6.8% | -28.3% |
| 2012 | 4.6% | -32.6% |
| 2013 | 10.4% | +125.9% |
| 2014 | 5.9% | -43.3% |
| 2015 | 7.4% | +26.3% |
| 2016 | 4.5% | -38.8% |
| 2017 | 4.1% | -10.5% |
| 2018 | 6.4% | +56.8% |
| 2019 | 4.6% | -27.1% |
| 2020 | 5.4% | +15.3% |
| 2021 | 7.5% | +40.5% |
| 2022 | 8.4% | +11.5% |
| 2023 | 6.7% | -20.6% |
| 2024 | 7.1% | +7.1% |
| 2025 | 7.9% | +10.9% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 7.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.8%, 4.5× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary energy from hydropower 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | +125.9% | 4.6% | 10.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.3% | 3.7% | 5.1% | 5 |
| 1970s | 5.6% | 3.4% | 7.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 9.4% | 5.2% | 13.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 11.7% | 8.9% | 14.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.7% | 5.6% | 8.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.4% | 4.1% | 10.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.2% | 5.4% | 8.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More energy & mining data for Sri Lanka
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate 4.83 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Fuel imports 21.5% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka?
- Share of primary energy from hydropower in Sri Lanka was 7.9% in 2025, according to Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary energy from hydropower recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 14.1% in 1995.
- What is the lowest share of primary energy from hydropower recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.4% in 1973.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for share of primary energy from hydropower?
- Sri Lanka ranks 14th out of 80 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary energy from hydropower rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary energy from hydropower. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 61 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured as a percentage of total energy supply.