MANILA (October 17) — Every bowl of rice on Filipino tables today relies more on foreign imports than ever before in nearly four decades. The country’s rice self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) fell to 71.7% in 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) — the lowest since 1988.
This means that for every kilo of rice in the market, only 717 grams came from local farmers, while the rest was imported. Last year’s figure is 6.2 percentage points lower than 2023, reflecting how vulnerable Filipino households have become to global rice price swings.
For rice farmers, the numbers tell a painful story. Local palay output reached 19.08 million metric tons, equivalent to 12.02 million metric tons of rice — but this was overshadowed by record-high imports of 4.74 million metric tons. A lower milling recovery rate of 63% also meant more of what farmers harvested was lost before reaching consumers’ plates.
“The drop in self-sufficiency is a wake-up call,” said Marie Annette Dacul of the University of Asia and the Pacific’s Center for Food and Agri Business. “It’s not just about growing more rice. We need to fix the entire chain — from how we mill and store, to how we move rice — so farmers can earn more and families can have affordable food.”
Agriculture groups also raised concerns that the PSA’s current formula doesn’t factor in demand, which may lead to policies that overlook the needs of consumers and producers.
Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute warned that unless productivity improves and diets diversify, the Philippines will keep importing about 15% of its rice needs.
With rice prices hitting household budgets and farmers struggling to compete with cheaper imports, the Philippine government has set an ambitious goal: reach 90% self-sufficiency by the end of the current administration.
But for many families and farmers, the bigger question is whether that target will translate to stable prices and fair livelihoods on the ground.
