Nearly 62% of Sri Lankans aged between five and 69 cannot independently use a computer, according to the Department of Census and Statistics, which puts computer literacy at 38.1% in the first six months of 2026.
The finding comes from the department’s Computer Literacy Statistics Bulletin for the first half of the year, the Daily Mirror reported on Thursday.
The number that explains the rest
Computer literacy is 38.1%. Digital literacy is 72.5% — nearly twice as high. The department’s own reading of the gap is that many people can independently operate a smartphone or similar device but not a computer.
The device data bears that out. Smartphones accounted for 80.9% of the devices people used to reach the internet and email; desktops and laptops accounted for 17.1%. Internet use among the 5-to-69 population reached 63.9% over the preceding 12 months, up from 60.4% in 2025. Yet only 21.9% used email in the same period — a figure far below internet use, and one that tracks computer literacy more closely than it tracks connectivity.
Age is the sharpest divide
- 15–19: 75.2%
- 20–24: 71.2%
- 50–59: 18%
- 60–69: 9.2%
Internet use among 20-to-24-year-olds was 91.8%, and 90.6% in the 25–29 group.
The gender gap is small by comparison — 38.9% of males against 37.3% of females.
Education and English
Education tracks computer literacy more strongly than any other characteristic reported. Those with G.C.E. Advanced Level qualifications or above recorded 77.7%; among people with no schooling the rate was 1.5%. People who can read and write English recorded 74.7%.
Where you live
Computer literacy by sector ran 51.6% urban, 36.3% rural and 15.8% in the estate sector. By province, the Western Province was highest at 47.6% and the North Central Province lowest at 27.5%.
Household ownership of a desktop or laptop was 20.8%, meaning more than four in five households had neither. Ownership was 36.2% in urban areas, 18.6% rural and 2.2% in the estate sector. The Western Province led at 32.1%; the Eastern Province was lowest at 12.8%.
Against last year’s bulletin
The comparison with the annual figures this desk reported in September is one of near-standstill. Household computer ownership was 21.3% in the 2025 annual bulletin and is 20.8% now — a slight fall. Digital literacy was about 72% and is 72.5% now.
The 2025 bulletin showed household ownership stuck inside a 19–21% band since 2023. These figures keep it there.
Not reported
The filing does not give the survey’s sample size or fieldwork dates, the definition separating computer literacy from digital literacy, or confidence intervals. It gives no district-level breakdown below province, and does not say whether the half-year figures are directly comparable with the annual series.
A note on sourcing: a search of the verified newsrooms reachable by this desk found no other current filing on this bulletin — EconomyNext’s origin was returning an error, and Daily FT and NewsFirst had not carried it. Older Census Department bulletins and a 2024 Sunday Times report on an earlier edition were the only other results, and are not cited here as they describe different survey rounds.
