263000 factories have been closed

Prof. Wasantha Athukorala, Professor of Economics and Statistics Department of the University of Peradeniya, states that according to the latest report issued by the Department of Population and Statistics, two hundred and sixty-three thousand and two hundred (263,200) different industries in Sri Lanka have closed down in the last four years (from 2019 to 2022) due to the collapse of the economy.
Professor Wasantha Athukorala says that at the beginning of 2019, there were 1,300,300 micro, small and medium factories in Sri Lanka, but by the end of 2022, that number had dropped to 1,030,100.
He says 204,100 factories have been closed permanently, and 59,100 have been temporarily closed.
Prof. Wasantha Athukorala of Peradeniya added that among the industries that have been closed, 254,700 belong to the micro category, 7,300 are small industries, and 1,100 are medium industries.