Over 200,000 Sri Lankans left for foreign employment so far this year after registering with Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, a minister said on Monday.

Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said around 311,000 Sri Lankans left for foreign employment in 2022, and he expects a similar number of people would leave Sri Lanka this year as well.

Sri Lankan workers remitted over 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2023, the minister said.

The workers’ remittances have been a key pillar of Sri Lanka’s foreign currency earnings, providing a substantial cushion against the widening trade deficit and enhancing the resilience of the country’s external sector.