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Consumer affairs: Essentials consume 58% of household income: study

Though household consumption in Sri Lanka has recovered, reaching Rs 9 trillion in 2025 and continuing to anchor 60% to 70% of real GDP, a newly released landmark study by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals that approximately 0.4 million households have shifted down into lower-income classes (aspirers and strugglers) since 2020.

As a consequence, the report finds that price pressures, exemplified by fuel prices jumping from Rs 140 to Rs 400 per liter, have forced core essentials like food, housing, and healthcare to swallow 58% of total household spend, up from 53% reported in 2020.

Accordingly, while the middle class drives ~70% of total national spending, affluent households (earning over Rs 400,000 monthly) contribute nearly three times their household share to total consumption.

Geographically, the report states, affluence remains highly concentrated in the Urban-West (Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara), which holds twice as many affluent households as rural areas. In contrast, rural Sri Lanka anchors 56% of the country’s middle-class volume, compelling businesses to adopt dual pricing and pack architectures to maintain volume while capturing premium demand.