- Western Province tops the list of provinces
- Males ahead of females in computer literacy
The percentage of Computer Literate population (Computer Literacy) in Sri Lanka during the first six months of 2024 decreased compared to corresponding period of the previous year according to a the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).
The survey reveals that the overall Computer Literacy rate reported in 2024 in Sri Lanka is 36.4 percent. The survey results show that the computer literacy rate vary from 2021 to 2023. The urban sector had the highest computer literacy rate (48.2%) among residential sectors.
The computer literacy rate for Rural and Estate sectors are 34.9 percent and 16.3 percent. Among the provinces the highest level of computer literacy is reported from the Western province (45.8%) while the lowest literacy rate is reported from the North Central province (25.5%).
Computer literacy among males (38.0%) is higher than that of females (34.9%) in 2024. Young youths (aged 15 –19 years) show the highest computer literacy rate (75.6%) among all other age groups.
The survey results further reveal that higher the level of education, higher the computer literacy.
The group with the A/L or above level of education shows the highest computer literacy rate (76.2%). Also, computer literacy is higher among those who are literate in English language (74.9%).
Household Computer Ownership – If a desktop or a laptop is available in a household, then that household is considered as a computer- owned household.
In 2024, at least one computer was available in 19.5 percent of households in the country. That is around one out of every five households owns either a desktop or a laptop computer. This percentage is 36.6 in the urban sector and rural and estate sector show 16.8 percent and 1.5 percent.
When the Provinces are considered the highest availability is in the Western province (31.1%) while the lowest availability is reported from the North-Central Province (11.5%). Percentage of availability of desktop or laptop computer at a household varies between 19%-22% between 2022 to 2024.
Computer literacy among the employed population who are aware of computer in Sri Lanka is around 70.6 % in 2024. The positions such as senior officials and managers (89.1%), professionals (95.8%), technicians and associate professionals (93.5%), clerks and clerical support workers (90.7%) have higher computer literacy rates.
Also, even among people engaged in elementary occupations 37.8 percent are computer literate.
