Regional Development Disparities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This article discloses the nature and the background causes of the regional variations of development in Sri Lanka. Though Sri Lanka is a lower-middle-income country with a GDP per capita of USD 3852 (2019) and a total population of 21.8 million, the income inequalities and the human wellbeing between the communities and regions are significantly high. These regional gaps and regional disparities in Sri Lanka are a chronic issue and have taken a new dimension with excessive concentration of growth in the Western Province, the Colombo Megalopolis while the less developed and disadvantaged other regions are awaiting to shift to a more liberalized economic regime since 1978. The average infrastructure index for the Western Province is 1.77 compared to less than 1.00 for all other provinces. The study proves that the 30-year civil war between the ethnic groups and the youth unrests and merging fundamentalism of Sri Lanka are also the results of reginal disparities of development. This article is based on secondary data and provides some of the cases as evidence to prove the spatial and temporal development disparities of the country. The urban biased development approach of all the successive government and welfare approaches of the development policies are the major causes behind the regional variations of the human wellbeing of Sri Lanka.