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Topic 07 of 18 · Country Index 2026

Sri Lanka: Environment & Sustainability

How much pressure does a country put on the natural world?

Sri Lanka is placed 87th of 181 countries on environment & sustainability in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 3 key statistics. Readings behind it: CO₂ Emissions per Capita 0.901 (2024); Water Stress 90.79 (2023).

Environment & Sustainability

87th

of 181 countries placed

Placed from 3 of 3 key statistics

Country Index 2026, all topics86th of 178 →

01The evidence

The 3 key statistics that decide it

Only these place Sri Lanka on environment & sustainability — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.

Why these keys

  1. Key 1 of 3

    CO₂ Emissions per Capita

    Global Carbon Project

    Why it is a key: How much carbon dioxide a country's own fuel burning puts into the air for each person living there.

    2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0

    0.901

    Fossil CO₂ (tonnes per person)

    Lower is better

    Sri Lanka: 0.901. Across the 210 countries in this edition, values run from 0.054 (DR Congo) to 41.27 (Qatar); the world median is 3.21.

    World median
    3.21
    Best in Southern Asia
    0.254 Afghanistan

    Each grey tick is one of 210 countries in the 2024 edition.

  2. Key 2 of 3

    Water Stress

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Why it is a key: Whether a country withdraws more freshwater than nature replaces: the one pressure in this subject a country creates for itself rather than faces.

    2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0

    90.79

    Freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%)

    Lower is better

    Sri Lanka: 90.79. Across the 177 countries in this edition, values run from 0.03 (Republic of the Congo) to 3,851 (Kuwait); the world median is 10.

    World median
    10
    Best in Southern Asia
    1.41 Bhutan

    Each grey tick is one of 177 countries in the 2023 edition.

  3. Key 3 of 3

    Ecological Footprint

    Global Footprint Network

    Why it is a key: How much of the planet's biological capacity a country's own consumption uses up.

    2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0

    1.272

    Ecological Footprint (global hectares per person)

    Lower is better

    Sri Lanka: 1.272. Across the 126 countries in this edition, values run from 0.514 (Yemen) to 11.73 (Qatar); the world median is 2.296.

    World median
    2.296
    Best in Southern Asia
    0.722 Pakistan

    Each grey tick is one of 126 countries in the 2025 edition.

03In context

Sri Lanka beside its neighbours

A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 181 countries on environment & sustainability, never a place within the region.

Southern Asia
1st181stNot placed · 43 countries with too few key statisticsNo data

The whole world on environment & sustainability

Sri Lanka and Southern Asia

Sri Lanka has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 181 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.

CountryStandingCO₂ Emissions per CapitaFossil CO₂ (tonnes per person)Water StressFreshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%)Ecological FootprintEcological Footprint (global hectares per person)
Bangladesh=30th0.6245.720.906
Nepal39th0.6338.310.887
Afghanistan55th0.25454.760.773
Pakistan68th0.71698.120.722
Bhutan78th2.0941.414.771
Sri Lanka87th0.90190.791.272
India=91st2.20165.871.13
Maldives111th4.3699.62—
Iran172nd8.65680.43—

“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.

Across Southern Asia

Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 181.

Placed either side on environment & sustainability

The countries immediately above and below Sri Lanka in the topic’s list.

04Context, no vote

Where Sri Lanka is ahead of the world, and behind

23 more statistics filed under environment & sustainability, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.

Every country

Ahead of the world median8

Statistics on which Sri Lanka does better than the middle country measured.

  • Energy Intensity of GDP (PPP)EIA · 2024 · world median 2.7380.858▲ Improved since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 0.858 · world median 2.738 · Energy use per dollar of GDP (thousand Btu per US$ at PPP). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.666 to 17.45; lower is better.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Planetary pressures-adjusted HDIUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.6780.754No real change since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 0.754 · world median 0.678 · PHDI (0–1). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.276 to 0.827; higher is better.

    Position 27th of 156 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Organic Agricultural AreaFAO · 2024 · world median 0.7253.08▼ Worsened since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 3.08 · world median 0.725 · Organic share of agricultural land (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 86.38; higher is better.

    Position 46th of 150 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Renewable Share of Electricity GenerationEmber · 2024 · world median 31.1454.09▲ Improved since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 54.09 · world median 31.14 · Renewables (% of electricity generated). Ember, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.

    Position 62nd of 190 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Wind and Solar Share of Electricity GenerationEmber · 2024 · world median 5.76911.91▼ Worsened since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 11.91 · world median 5.769 · Wind and solar (% of electricity generated). Ember, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 69.12; higher is better.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Low-Carbon Share of Electricity GenerationEmber · 2024 · world median 35.6654.09▲ Improved since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 54.09 · world median 35.66 · Low-carbon sources (% of electricity generated). Ember, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.

    Position 73rd of 190 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Carbon Intensity of ElectricityEmber · 2024 · world median 468.81386.76No real change since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 386.76 · world median 468.81 · Carbon intensity (gCO₂e per kWh generated). Ember, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 23.49 to 1,306; lower is better.

    Position 112th of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Climate Vulnerability (ND-GAIN)Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 2024 · world median 0.450.436▲ Improved since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 0.436 · world median 0.45 · ND-GAIN Vulnerability (0–1, where 1 is the most vulnerable). Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.263 to 0.655; lower is better.

    Ranked 87th of 190 by Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

Behind the world median5

Statistics on which Sri Lanka does worse than the middle country measured.

  • Renewable Internal Freshwater Resources per CapitaFAO · 2022 · world median 2,5282,380No real change since 2012

    Sri Lanka: 2,380 · world median 2,528 · Renewable internal freshwater (cubic metres per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 445,023; higher is better.

    Position 93rd of 181 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2022 dataset

  • ND-GAIN Country IndexNotre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 2024 · world median 47.4445.49No real change since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 45.49 · world median 47.44 · ND-GAIN Index (0–100, where 100 is best placed to adapt). Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 26.42 to 71.85; higher is better.

    Ranked 105th of 190 by Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • World Risk IndexInstitute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), Ruhr University Bochum · 2025 · world median 4.174.87No real change since 2015

    Sri Lanka: 4.87 · world median 4.17 · WorldRiskIndex score (0–100, where 100 is the most at risk). Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), Ruhr University Bochum, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.18 to 46.56; lower is better.

    Position 86th of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • World Energy Trilemma IndexWorld Energy Council · 2023 · world median 63.860.4No earlier reading

    Sri Lanka: 60.4 · world median 63.8 · Trilemma score (0–100). World Energy Council, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 27.7 to 83.2; higher is better.

    Ranked 59th of 99 by World Energy Council.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Internal Displacements by DisasterIDMC · 2024 · world median 4,75084,000▲ Improved since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 84,000 · world median 4,750 · New displacements by disaster (people). Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 1 to 11,001,000; lower is better.

    Position 34th of 160 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

No better end10

These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.

  • Water Withdrawal by SectorFAO · 2022 · world median 62.1487.36No real change since 2012

    Sri Lanka: 87.36 · world median 62.14 · Freshwater withdrawn for agriculture (% of total). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 99.48.

    Position 34th of 171 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2022 dataset

  • Fertilizer Consumption per HectareFAO · 2023 · world median 87.36153.94Moved since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 153.94 · world median 87.36 · Fertilizer consumption (kg per hectare of arable land). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 2,926.

    Position 57th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Agricultural LandFAO · 2023 · world median 37.9648.61Moved since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 48.61 · world median 37.96 · Agricultural land (% of land area). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.445 to 86.48.

    Position 66th of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Land Under Cereal ProductionFAO · 2023 · world median 689,2781,247,195Moved since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 1,247,195 · world median 689,278 · Land under cereal production (hectares). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 103,715,108.

    Position 72nd of 179 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Forest AreaFAO · 2023 · world median 31.0834No real change since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 34 · world median 31.08 · Forest area (% of land area). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 94.45.

    Position 95th of 210 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Pesticide Use per HectareFAO · 2024 · world median 1.731.59Moved since 2014

    Sri Lanka: 1.59 · world median 1.73 · Pesticide use (kg per hectare of cropland). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 37.72.

    Position 93rd of 178 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Agricultural EmissionsFAO · 2023 · world median 8,6358,014No real change since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 8,014 · world median 8,635 · Farm-gate emissions (kt CO₂eq). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1,044,508.

    Position 103rd of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Arable Land per PersonFAO · 2023 · world median 0.1090.062No real change since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 0.062 · world median 0.109 · Arable land (hectares per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1.459.

    Position 141st of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Livestock DensityFAO · 2023 · world median 0.5350.32Moved since 2013

    Sri Lanka: 0.32 · world median 0.535 · Livestock units per hectare of agricultural land. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.02 to 43.97.

    Position 130th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Total Natural Resources Rents (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2021 · world median 1.7080.083Moved since 2011

    Sri Lanka: 0.083 · world median 1.708 · Natural resources rents (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2021 edition, data for 2021.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 61.03.

    Position 153rd of 180 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2021 dataset

No current reading for Sri Lanka

Adjusted Net Savings (last 2020) and Agricultural Irrigated Land. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.

05Country Index 2026

Environment & Sustainability among Sri Lanka’s 16 topics

Environment & Sustainability is Sri Lanka’s 9th best-placed topic of 16. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.

On the profile
  1. Health & Wellbeing53rd of 200
  2. Governance & Institutions71st of 194
  3. Food & Agriculturejoint 71st of 175
  4. Mobility & Trade62nd of 147
  5. Energy82nd of 193
  6. Digital & Technology87th of 198
  7. Democracy & Civil Liberties88th of 198
  8. Development & Human Capitaljoint 89th of 196
  9. Environment & Sustainability87th of 181
  10. Peace & Securityjoint 86th of 177
  11. Economy & Innovationjoint 88th of 176
  12. Poverty & Inequality80th of 159
  13. Risk & Resilience102nd of 192
  14. Education & Knowledge121st of 171
  15. Gender & Equality151st of 183
  16. Work & Labour160th of 182

06The top of the list

Who leads on environment & sustainability

The three countries placed highest of 181, and the leaders Sri Lanka can most readily be measured against.

All 181 countries
  1. 1

    DR Congo

    Middle Africa

    1st of 181 · 3 of 3 keys

    Photo: Christina Bergey derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  2. 2

    Mozambique

    Eastern Africa

    2nd of 181 · 3 of 3 keys

    Photo: Stig Nygaard derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

  3. 3

    Guinea-Bissau

    Western Africa

    3rd of 181 · 2 of 3 keys

    Photo: (WT-en) Pis bus at English Wikivoyage · Public domain, greyscale

Placed highest nearby

  1. Highest in Asia

    Bangladesh=30th3/3 keys

  2. This page

    Sri Lanka87th3/3 keys

Positions out of 181 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.

07Questions

Sri Lanka on environment & sustainability: questions answered

Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.

How does Sri Lanka rank on environment & sustainability?

Sri Lanka is placed 87th of 181 countries on Environment & Sustainability in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 3 key statistics (CO₂ Emissions per Capita, Water Stress and Ecological Footprint). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.

What is the latest CO₂ Emissions per Capita figure for Sri Lanka?

0.901 in 2024 (fossil CO₂ (tonnes per person)), according to Global Carbon Project. The world median in the same edition was 3.21.

What is the latest Water Stress figure for Sri Lanka?

90.79 in 2023 (freshwater withdrawal as a share of available resources (%)), according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world median in the same edition was 10.

How have Sri Lanka’s environment & sustainability figures changed?

CO₂ Emissions per Capita rose from 0.518 in 2000 to 0.901 in 2024; Water Stress fell from 91.24 in 2000 to 90.79 in 2023; Ecological Footprint rose from 1.241 in 2000 to 1.272 in 2025.

Which environment & sustainability statistics are missing for Sri Lanka?

No current reading is published for Sri Lanka on Adjusted Net Savings and Agricultural Irrigated Land. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.

08Keep reading

Explore further

Environment & Sustainability

Sri Lanka, topic by topic

09Method

Method, sources and how to cite

What this topic does not measure

Air quality and biodiversity are not keys, because the site does not yet hold data for them that passes every test. Forest cover, farmland, organic farming, farm emissions and the renewable share of electricity are published here as context. Exposure to natural hazards belongs to Risk & Resilience.

About environment & sustainability, in full

How the Environment & Sustainability standing is decided, step by step

A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.

  1. A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 3 indicators on this topic are keys and 25 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
  2. Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
  3. Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
  4. Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
  5. The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
  6. A country needs 2 of this topic’s 3 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 181 countries clear the bar here.
  7. A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 3.
  8. A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.

The key statistics and their licences

The other 23 statistics on this page come from 9 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.

The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photographs

Sri Lanka’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Sri Lanka: Environment & Sustainability — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/sri-lanka/environment

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