List of prime ministers of Sri Lanka

There have been sixteen prime ministers of Sri Lanka since the creation of the position in 1947, prior to the independence of the country (then known as Ceylon).

The position of the executive president was introduced, resulting in the powers of the prime minister being reduced.

[2] Under the current constitution of Sri Lanka, the prime minister is the leader of the Cabinet business and also functions as a deputy to the president.

[5] Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as prime minister the most times in the country's history, on six occasions (May 1993, December 2001, January 2015, August 2015, December 2018 and May 2022),[6][7] whilst Dudley Senanayake and Sirimavo Bandaranayake have each been appointed three times.

United National Party (7) Sri Lanka Freedom Party (6) Sinhala Bhasha Peramuna (1) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2) National People's Power (1) Out of the 16 distinct people to have held the office of prime minister, 8 have come from three political families.