What is the official poverty line in Sri Lanka?

The national Official Poverty Line (OPL) is Rs 17,315 per person per month for the May 2026 bulletin. It is the minimum monthly spending one person needs to meet basic food and non-food needs, published and updated monthly by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).

How is the poverty line calculated in Sri Lanka?

DCS uses the Cost of Basic Needs method. It prices a food bundle giving about 2030 kilocalories per person per day, adds an essential non-food allowance, and updates the total every month using the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, base 2021 = 100). A household is below the line when its per-person spending falls under the district OPL.

What is the minimum income needed to live in Sri Lanka per month?

To clear the national poverty line, one person needs about Rs 17,315 per month. A four-person household therefore needs roughly Rs 69,260 to be above the line. This is a basic-needs floor, not a comfortable or middle-class income — actual living costs are higher in cities.

Which district has the highest poverty line in Sri Lanka?

Colombo has the highest OPL at Rs 18,675 per person per month (May 2026), reflecting higher local prices. Monaragala has the lowest at Rs 16,556. The gap between districts is usually a few hundred rupees per person.

How much does one person need per month to be above the poverty line?

That is exactly the per-person OPL for your district. Nationally it is Rs 17,315 per month. If a person's own monthly income or spending is at or above their district's line, they are counted as above the poverty line; below it, they are counted as poor.

Is the poverty line the same as Samurdhi or Aswesuma eligibility?

No. The OPL is a statistical basic-needs threshold from DCS. Samurdhi and Aswesuma use their own means tests with different cut-offs, scoring and asset rules. A household near the OPL is not automatically eligible or ineligible for either benefit. Use this tool to understand the poverty line, not to confirm benefit eligibility.

Does the poverty line change every month?

Yes. DCS revises the OPL monthly to track price changes through the National Consumer Price Index. The figures on this page are from the May 2026 bulletin. When a newer bulletin is published, this page is updated and the last-verified date changes.

Should I enter income or spending in this calculator?

Either works as an estimate. DCS measures poverty using household consumption (spending), so entering your monthly spending is closest to the official method. If spending is hard to total, monthly income is a reasonable proxy. The verdict compares your per-person figure against the district line the same way regardless.

Sri Lanka · Finance

Sri Lanka Poverty Line Calculator — by District

See whether a household clears Sri Lanka's Official Poverty Line. Pick a district, enter household size and monthly income, and get the basic-needs threshold plus your exact monthly surplus or shortfall. National line: Rs 17,315/person (May 2026). No signup, sources cited.

By Induwara Ashinsana— Executive Director, Ryzera TechnologiesUpdated Jul 15, 2026

Check a household against the poverty lineMay 2026

DCS verified · May 2026

District

Per-person line: Rs 17,315/month

Household size (people)

Everyone living and eating together (1–20).

Income is entered as

Total household income (Rs/month)

Total monthly income or spending for the whole household.

Quick presets

Below the poverty line

In All Sri Lanka (National), a household of 4 people needs at least Rs 69,260 per month to meet basic needs.

Household threshold

Rs 69,260

Rs 17,315 × 4

Monthly shortfall

Rs 9,260

Per-person income

Rs 15,000

Line: Rs 17,315/person

Income vs line

86.63%

Under 100% = below line

Household income Rs 60,000 vs threshold Rs 69,260. Checked two ways — per-person income vs the district line, and total income vs the household threshold — both give the same verdict.

Poverty lines: Department of Census & Statistics, May 2026 bulletin.

How it works

Sri Lanka's Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) publishes an Official Poverty Line (OPL) every month — the minimum monthly spending one person needs to cover basic food and essential non-food items. This calculator takes that per-person line, scales it to your household, and compares it to your income. The maths is deterministic; the only external numbers are the DCS-published lines.

DCS builds the line with the Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) approach. It prices a food bundle that supplies about 2030 kilocalories per person per day, adds an essential non-food allowance, and updates the total each month using the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, base 2021 = 100). Because prices differ across the country, each district gets its own line — from Colombo (Rs 18,675) down to Monaragala (Rs 16,556) in the May 2026 bulletin.

The tool then runs four steps:

Look up the per-person line for your district, OPL.
Scale it to the household: threshold = OPL × household size. The line is defined per person, so the household floor grows linearly with size.
Put income on a monthly household basis. If you enter a per-person figure, it is multiplied by household size; a household total is used as-is. Per-capita income is then income ÷ size.
Compare. The household is below the line when per-capita income is less than the district OPL — equivalently, when household income is less than the threshold. The gap is income − threshold: positive is a surplus, negative is a shortfall.

The result is checked two ways — per-capita income against the district line, and total income against the household threshold. Because the threshold is just the line times household size, both comparisons always agree; showing both is a transparency check, not two different answers. The OPL measures basic needs only: clearing it means a household is not officially poor, not that it is comfortable.

Poverty line by district

Official Poverty Line by district for the May 2026 bulletin (LKR per person per month), highest first. The national line is Rs 17,315.

#	District	Poverty line (Rs/person/month)
1	Colombo	Rs 18,675
2	Gampaha	Rs 18,579
3	Nuwara Eliya	Rs 18,209
4	Kalutara	Rs 18,176
5	Kegalle	Rs 18,105
6	Mannar	Rs 17,735
7	Puttalam	Rs 17,675
8	Galle	Rs 17,593
9	Kandy	Rs 17,577
10	Matale	Rs 17,552
11	Ampara	Rs 17,453
12	Badulla	Rs 17,444
13	Batticaloa	Rs 17,409
14	Ratnapura	Rs 17,392
15	Vavuniya	Rs 17,297
16	Mullaitivu	Rs 17,193
17	Kurunegala	Rs 17,009
18	Polonnaruwa	Rs 16,943
19	Matara	Rs 16,910
20	Jaffna	Rs 16,898
21	Anuradhapura	Rs 16,898
22	Trincomalee	Rs 16,871
23	Hambantota	Rs 16,823
24	Kilinochchi	Rs 16,728
25	Monaragala	Rs 16,556
	All Sri Lanka (National)	Rs 17,315

Source: Department of Census and Statistics, Official Poverty Line by District, May 2026. Figures are revised monthly.

Worked examples

Family of four, national line — below

Below the line

Per-person line (National): Rs 17,315
Threshold: Rs 17,315 × 4 = Rs 69,260
Household income: Rs 60,000/month
Per-capita income: 60,000 ÷ 4 = Rs 15,000 (< Rs 17,315)
Shortfall: 60,000 − 69,260 = −Rs 9,260/month
Income vs line: 60,000 ÷ 69,260 = 86.63%

Colombo household of three — above

Above the line

Per-person line (Colombo): Rs 18,675
Threshold: Rs 18,675 × 3 = Rs 56,025
Household income: Rs 90,000/month
Per-capita income: 90,000 ÷ 3 = Rs 30,000 (> Rs 18,675)
Surplus: 90,000 − 56,025 = +Rs 33,975/month
Income vs line: 90,000 ÷ 56,025 = 160.64%

Boundary case — one person exactly on the line

On the line = above

Per-person line (Monaragala, lowest): Rs 16,556
Threshold: Rs 16,556 × 1 = Rs 16,556
Household income: Rs 16,556/month
Per-capita income equals the line exactly → NOT below (the test is strictly "less than")
Gap: Rs 0 · Income vs line: 100.00%
Verdict: above the poverty line (just barely)

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

District and national lines were transcribed from the DCS May 2026 bulletin and last verified on 2026-07-15. DCS updates the poverty line monthly; this page is refreshed when a newer bulletin is published.

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Comments & feedback

Spotted a bug or want an improvement? Tell us — our team reviews every comment, and good ideas get built. Comments are public and anonymous.

Found a bug, an out-of-date figure, or want another district metric added?

Email me at [email protected] — most fixes ship within 24 hours.