COLOMBO, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports increased by 14.4 percent year on year in August, reaching 1 billion U.S. dollars in revenue for the third consecutive month, the Export Development Board (EDB) said in a statement Wednesday.

Sri Lanka’s merchandise export revenue in August stood at 1 billion U.S. dollars, compared to 947.2 million U.S. dollars in the same month in 2020.

Export revenue from apparel, which is Sri Lanka’s largest source of export revenue, grew 12.3 percent year on year in August to 491.5 million U.S. dollars.

Export crop staples such as tea, rubber, and coconut grew 13.4 percent, 27.3 percent, and 13.2 percent respectively in August. Exports of diamonds, gems, and jewelry boasted the strongest growth of 65.3 percent.

Meanwhile, exports of seafood and ornamental fish grew 19.7 percent and 52.4 percent respectively.

Sri Lanka’s top export markets in August were the United States, Britain, India and Germany. However, exports to the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands showed their strongest growth of 92.3 percent and 49.3 percent respectively.

EDB Chairman Suresh de Mel said that the Asian country’s exporters have to add more value, explore niche markets, and diversify product baskets in the future.