Rice self-sufficiency ratio at lowest level in 37 years

The country’s self-sufficiency in rice fell to its lowest level in almost four decades, as milling recovery dropped while imports were at record high last year.

- JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

The country’s rice self-sufficiency ratio (SSR), which measures the overall share of local supply to total supply, fell to 71.7 percent in 2024, the lowest in 37 years, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data.

The PSA data showed that this is the lowest rice SSR since the data series started in 1988. The latest rice SSR figure surpassed the previous record low of 72.1 percent in 1998.

On an annual basis, the rice SSR of 71.7 percent last year was 6.2 percentage points lower than the 77.9 percent recorded level in 2023, according to the PSA.

Since 1988, this is the fifth time that the country’s rice SSR was below the 80 percent level (1998, 2019, 2022, 2023). The four years (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) that rice SSR fell below 80 percent were all after the government liberalized the country’s rice trade regime in 2019, which allowed the easier entry of foreign supplies.

“SSR shows the magnitude of production in relation to domestic utilization. It is the extent to which a country’s supply of commodities is derived from its own domestic production,” the PSA said.