The rate compared with an expansion of 8.0 percent in 2010, the first full year after government forces defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009 and declared an end to nearly 40 years of fighting.
“The 8.3 percent growth (in 2011) is the highest GDP growth ever achieved since independence,” the department said, adding that it was also the first time since independence that 8.0 percent growth was recorded in two consecutive years.
Tourism has been a big growth area after the end of the Tamil separatist war, with earnings in the sector jumping 41.4 percent last year.
Per capita income also increased to $2,836 in 2011, up from $2,400 the year before.
The impressive growth figures for 2011 come at a time when worries are mounting about the economy because of a widening trade deficit.
Sri Lanka has sought to overcome its balance-of-payments troubles by hiking interest rates, allowing its currency to fall and imposing new taxes to curb imports.
The central bank has revised its growth projection for 2012 to 7.2 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 8.0 percent after the new monetary and fiscal measures were announced
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