Indicator	Value
Total population	21,900,000–23,100,000 peopleUN DESA WPP [2024] 23,100,000 people·World Bank WDI [2024] 21,920,000 people
Median age	33.1 yearsUN DESA WPP [2024]
Life expectancy	77.5–77.7 yearsWorld Bank WDI [2024] 77.67 years·UNDP HDI [2023] 77.48 years
Ethnic groups	Sinhalese 74.9%, Sri Lankan Tamil 11.2%, Sri Lankan Moors 9.2%, Indian Tamil 4.2%, other 0.5% (2012 est.)CIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Languages	Sinhala (official) 87%, Tamil (official) 28.5%, English 23.8% (2012 est.); note: data represent main languages spoken by the population aged 10 years and older; shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census; English is commonly used in government and is referred to as the "link language" in the constitutionCIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Religions	Buddhist (official) 70.2%, Hindu 12.6%, Muslim 9.7%, Roman Catholic 6.1%, other Christian 1.3%, other 0.05% (2012 est.)CIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Urbanization	19.2% of total population (2023)CIA World Factbook [2025] · 2026 archive
Population growth	-0.551 %World Bank WDI [2024]
Birth rate	10.1 per 1,000World Bank WDI [2024]
Death rate	7.8 per 1,000World Bank WDI [2024]
Urban population	20.3 %World Bank WDI [2024]
Languages (structured)	Malabar-Sri Lanka Portuguese Sinhala Sri Lanka Malay Sri Lankan Sign Language Tamil Veddah Glottolog [2026]