Adrian Kenneth Halili – The Philippine Star 

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s self-sufficiency in rice expanded in 2025, driven by the decline in imports which boosted reliance on domestic production.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country’s rice self-sufficiency ratio (SSR), measuring the overall share of local supply to total supply, rose to 78.1 percent in 2025 from the 37-year low of 71.7 percent in 2024.

“SSR indicated the percentage of the total supply which came from the country’s domestic production, where supply includes local production plus imports, less exports,” the statistics agency said.

According to the PSA, the country’s rice sufficiency level remains below the 80 percent threshold last breached in 2021 when SSR stood at 81.5 percent.

During a congressional budget hearing last year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is projecting to reach a self-sufficiency level of 84 percent by the end of 2026.

On a year-on-year basis, the 78.1 percent SSR level in 2025 was 6.4 percentage points higher than the 71.7 percent recorded in 2024, the PSA said.

Agricultural experts noted that the expansion of SSR in 2025 was due to the government’s four-month ban on rice imports, which spanned from September to December last year.

This led to a decline in the country’s total rice imports by almost 30 percent to 3.39 million metric tons, lower than the record high of 4.68 million MT in imports logged in 2024.

Former agriculture undersecretary Fermin Adriano told The STAR that lower imports due to the ban from September to December, along with fairly good weather, drove the expansion of SSR in 2025.

“But it does not mean we have raised rice productivity significantly to abandon importation or tame food inflation,” he added.

Adriano said that raising rice productivity per hectare remains a better measure of progress in the country’s self-sufficiency for rice.

The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) noted that the SSR remains a “deceptive measure” as it only takes into account the ratio between imports and local output.

“If we have large imports, the ratio tends to go down. When imports go down, the ratio goes up even if production is basically the same,” FFF national manager Raul Montemayor told The STAR.

He added that a better gauge would be to take into account local production and the total rice requirement.

Meanwhile, experts said that the government’s target of 84 percent self-sufficiency may fall short this year due to the impact of El Niño on rice production, combined with rising input costs.

“For 2026, with high fertilizer and fuel prices (the targeted SSR level) is not feasible. This is a 10-percentage point increase, meaning an additional 1.6 million MTs of rice or nearly three million MTs of palay will have to be harvested,” Adriano said.

Montemayor also noted that the projected lower production this year and rising imports will push the country’s SSR levels lower.

The Philippines remains a net importer of rice as local production cannot meet demand. Imported rice totaled 3.27 million MT as of late-July, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry.

The DA projects a 700,000 MT decline in palay or unmilled rice production this year due to the strong El Niño event in the coming months. Rising fertilizer and fuel prices may also lower rice production between 18.6 million MT and 18.8 million MT.

Published Date: August 18, 2026