As Sri Lankans head to the polls, large majorities of voters want the government to increase spending on health and education according to the latest findings from the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS).

Since September 2022, as the economic crisis forced the government to rethink budget priorities, SLOTS has regularly asked survey respondents to identify their top two priorities for increasing government spending and their top two priorities for cutting government spending.

During 2024, the top priorities for Sri Lankans for increased government spending have consistently been health (78%) and education (64%). These were also the only areas where spending increases were supported by majorities of Sri Lankans, with support cutting across all demographics. Agriculture was the next highest priority for increased spending (33%) followed by food assistance (9%), housing (4%), and Samurdhi/Aswesuma (3%).

Not surprisingly, SLOTS respondents have been more reluctant to identify priorities for cutting spending, and only one spending category obtained majority support for spending reductions, which was housing at 51%. When asked what they would prioritize for spending cuts if government lacks funds, the highest ranked items were housing (51%) and food assistance (44%), followed by Samurdhi/Aswesuma (22%), the police (14%), roads (13%), and the military (12%). 

Support for increasing government spending on health and education was widespread and cut across all demographics. Both poor and better-off Sri Lankans rank health (71% vs. 79%) as their top priority for increased spending. The better-off were more likely to prioritize education (70% vs. 53%), but both the poor and the rich agreed on the need to increase spending in these two areas. There were few differences on this by age, but the youth (18–29 years) were more likely to prioritize education spending compared to older adults (60+).

There were clear differences by income level in how Sri Lankans viewed food assistance and Samurdhi/Aswesuma. Increasing spending on food assistance was a higher priority for poor Sri Lankans (17%) than for the better-off (5%). Similarly, one-fourth of the poor (29%) prioritized it for reductions in spending while half of the better-off (49%) support reduced spending. There were similar preferences over Samurdhi/Aswesuma, with the poor much more likely to prioritize it for increases in spending and the better-off much more likely to prioritize it for spending cuts.

There was no support for prioritizing the army or the police for spending increases, and one in eight Sri Lankans prioritize either for reducing spending. However, poor Sri Lankans were more likely to cite the army or police as a priority for cutting spending.

There are notable differences in spending priorities among different ethnic groups. Sinhala adults were more likely than other ethnic groups to prioritize health (82%) and education (66%). Meanwhile, Estate/Indian Tamil and Muslim adults were more likely to prioritize food assistance (Estate 32%, Muslim 27%) and housing (Estate 22%, Muslim 22%) compared to others.

Although health and education have consistently remained the top two spending priorities, the percentage of people prioritizing increased spending on health has steadily increased from 58% in 2023Q1, reaching 87% in 2024Q3. This may reflect the worsening impact of shortages of medicines and staffing in the government health sector, combined with the increasing difficulties most Sri Lankans face in paying for private health care as real incomes have fallen. Meanwhile, support for spending increases on agriculture has declined.

Methodology

SLOTS combines data from a national sample of adults (ages 18 and over) reached by random digit dialling of mobile numbers, and others coming from a national panel of respondents who were previously recruited through random selection. All estimates are weighted to be representative of the national population, including characteristics such as age, gender, province, sector, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and education.