Sri Lanka, Nov. 10 -- Sri Lanka's poorest fifth of households lost 16.4 percent of their average monthly income in real terms between 2016 and early 2025, while the richest fifth gained 16.5 percent, widening the income gap, as poverty returned to its level of nine years earlier.

The richest fifth earned nearly 15 times as much as the poorest fifth in early 2025, up from about 11 times in 2016, according to an analysis by Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka Research Fellow Dr. Pulasthi Amarasinghe.

Dr. Amarasinghe drew on the Census and Statistics Department's final household survey results for 2016 and 2019 and the preliminary findings for 2025.

At the 2016 prices, the average monthly income for the poorest fifth fell to Rs.12,...