COLOMBO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka economy's agricultural activities reported a negative growth rate of 4.2 percent in 2016, a statement from the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka said on Thursday.
Rice cultivation declined drastically by 31.0 percent during the period under review. Cultivation of tea, rubber and cereals declined by 11.2 percent, 10.7 percent and 10.5 percent respectively.
However, the statement released by the department said the industrial activities recorded a significant growth rate of 6.7 percent last year.
Among the industrial activities, construction activity, which corresponds to a considerably higher share for the industrial activities, increased by 14.9 percent.
During the year of 2016, the manufacturing activity which comes under industrial activities, has grown by 1.7 percent, the statement said.
