The economically inactive population was about 7.7 million. Out of the economically inactive population 25.6 percent were males and 74.4 percent were females.The highest participation rate for male is reported from age group 40-44 years (97.0%), while that for female is reported from 45-49 age group (48.8%).
During first quarter of 2018, the total number of employed persons in Sri Lanka is estimated as about 8.0 million. Of which, about 45.2 percent engaged in Service sector, 27.9 percent in Industries sector and 26.9 percent in Agriculture sector. In 2018 Q1 a decline in employment numbers can be observed in all three sector compared to 2017 Q1.
Highest employment share is in service sector and this is true for both male and female, while the lowest shares are for agriculture sector. Among employed females 29.9 percent is in agriculture sector while this share is 25.3 percent for males.

The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 372,135 during the first quarter 2018. The unemployment rate for the first quarter 2018 is 4.5 percent.

In 2017, estimated economically active population was around 8.6 million. Of which about 63 percent were male. That is about 5.4 million, 2017 annual report of Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey published by Department of Census and Statistics stated.

Majority among the economically inactive population are females (74.5%). That is about 5.4 million. The survey results reveal that, about 8.2 million persons are being employed during the year 2017. Out of these employed persons, about 5.3 million (64.3%) are males and 2.9 million (35.7%) are females.