> In Sri Lanka, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 27% of the median living standard, 34 times the share it takes in the United States; for 92% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 55% of people use the internet, and Claude use per working-age person is 0.56 times the world average. [World](https://themodelindex.org/world/) / Asia AI access, cost and use · Southern Asia · Asia · data read 1 Oct 2026 # Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, a $20-a-month AI plan costs 27% of the median living standard, 34 times the share it takes in the United States; for 92% of people it is over a tenth of what they live on. Claude, OpenAI's API and Gemini are all officially offered. 55% of people use the internet, and Claude use per working-age person is 0.56 times the world average. 27% of the median living standard for a $20 plan Asia median 13% · United States 0.79% 92% of people for whom the plan is over a tenth of their living standard about 20 m people 3of 3 leading services officially offered Claude · OpenAI · Gemini 55% of people use the internet world 74% · 22 m people ## The figures · Sri Lanka People 22 m Median living standard $896a year per person · consumption A $20 plan takes 27%of that · 34× the US share For whom it is over a tenth 92%of people Survey 2019revalued at 2023 prices GNI per person $4,670plan is 5.1% of it Claude use per person 0.56×world average = 1 Notable AI models built here 0 ## Officially offered here · 3 of 3 [Run it yourself →](https://themodelindex.org/local/) Claude · claude.ai app Yes OpenAI · API Yes Gemini · web app Yes From each lab's own published list: Anthropic's Claude.ai countries, OpenAI's API countries and Google's Gemini web app countries. Not listed means not officially served; open-weight models can be run anywhere. ## Against Asia and the world · regional figures are medians or population-weighted | MEASURE | SRI LANKA | ASIA | WORLD | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A $20 plan ÷ median living standard | 27% | 13% | 9.9% | | People for whom it is over a tenth | 92% | 72% | 63% | | Plan price ÷ GNI per person | 5.1% | 3.9% | 2.9% | | People using the internet | 55% | 76% | 74% | | Claude use per working-age person | 0.56× | 0.43× | 1.00× | | Notable AI models built | 0 | 283 | 1,256 | ## What it is used for · Sri Lanka against the world [Report ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-june-2026-report) Sri Lanka Work 39% Personal 26% Coursework 35% The world Work 42% Personal 41% Coursework 17% Share of the world's Claude use 0.19%0.27% of the world's people Work 39%world 42% Personal 26%world 41% Coursework 35%world 17% Handed over to the model (automation) 52%world 48% Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026: Claude.ai conversations by country. One product from one lab, so read it as a signal of who is using frontier models, not a census. ## What people make with it · share of conversations Document or report 16% Explanation or answer 15% App or website 7% Advice or recommendation 6% The most common things people in Sri Lanka ask Claude to produce. ## Neighbours · Southern Asia · lightest burden first | COUNTRY | PEOPLE | ONLINE | $20 PLAN ÷ MEDIAN LIVING STANDARD | OVER A TENTH | CLAUDE USE PER PERSON | OFFICIAL LISTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Maldives](https://themodelindex.org/world/maldives/) | 530k | 85% | 5.9% | 14% | not reported | 3 of 3 | | [Bhutan](https://themodelindex.org/world/bhutan/) | 797k | 91% | 14% | 75% | not reported | 3 of 3 | | Sri Lanka | 22 m | 55% | 27% | 92% | 0.56× | 3 of 3 | | [Nepal](https://themodelindex.org/world/nepal/) | 30 m | 46% | 27% | 96% | 0.41× | 3 of 3 | | [Bangladesh](https://themodelindex.org/world/bangladesh/) | 176 m | 53% | 31% | 97% | 0.11× | 3 of 3 | | [India](https://themodelindex.org/world/india/) | 1.46 bn | 70% | 41% | 99%+ | 0.30× | 3 of 3 | | [Pakistan](https://themodelindex.org/world/pakistan/) | 255 m | 57% | 55% | 99% | 0.31× | 3 of 3 | | [Iran](https://themodelindex.org/world/iran/) | 92 m | 85% | no estimate | – | not reported | 0 of 3 | | [Afghanistan](https://themodelindex.org/world/afghanistan/) | 44 m | 16% | no estimate | – | not reported | 1 of 3 | [All countries →](https://themodelindex.org/world/) ## The foundations · Sri Lanka against the world [World Bank ↗](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator) People using the internet 55% world 74% People with electricity 100% world 92% Mobile subscriptions per 100 people 133 world 112 Fixed broadband lines per 100 people 8.5 world 20.1 Enrolled in university-level education 21% world 44% Research spending, share of GDP 0.11% world 2.6% Researchers per million people 94 world 1,652 Secure internet servers per million people 449 world 16,381 The latest World Bank figure for each measure. The tick marks the world figure. A $20-a-month plan ($240 a year, US list price) against the median household living standard per person in each country. The median is from the latest national household survey (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform), revalued from 2021 purchasing-power dollars into US dollars at recent prices and official exchange rates, assuming real living standards have not changed since the survey. Some surveys measure income and others consumption, which includes food people grow and housing they own, so this is a living standard, not cash to spare. Countries with no survey since 2015 or no defensible exchange rate are left blank. [World Bank household surveys ↗](https://pip.worldbank.org/) [Anthropic countries ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/supported-countries) [OpenAI countries ↗](https://platform.openai.com/docs/supported-countries) [Gemini countries ↗](https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13575153) [Anthropic Economic Index ↗](https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-june-2026-report) [Epoch AI notable models ↗](https://epoch.ai/data/notable-ai-models) --- Source: https://themodelindex.org/world/sri-lanka/ · The Model Index · data as of 2026-10-01