ARCHIVE // LK // TIME-SERIES
Languages
Sri Lanka — 36 years of data
Historical Values
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1991 | Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1992 | Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1993 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1994 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1995 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1996 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1997 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1998 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 1999 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about 10% of the population |
| 2000 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2001 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2002 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2003 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2004 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2005 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2006 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2007 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2008 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2009 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2010 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2011 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population |
| 2012 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution |
| 2013 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution |
| 2014 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution |
| 2015 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%, other 8% | note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution |
| 2016 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (official and national language) 18%, other 8% | note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution |
| 2017 | Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (official and national language) 18%, other 8% | note: English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language in the constitution |
| 2018 | Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 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 constitution |
| 2019 | Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 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 constitution |
| 2020 | Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 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 constitution |
| 2021 | Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 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 constitution |
| 2022 | Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 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 constitution |
| 2023 | Sinhala (official and national language) 87%, Tamil (official and national language) 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 constitution |
| 2024 | 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 constitution |
| 2025 | 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 constitution |