The Philippines is expected to import more grains next year, particularly rice, wheat and corn, with rice import volumes possibly hitting a record, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported through its Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Manila.
In its report dated May 12, 2025, FAS Manila estimated the country may continue to hit record rice import volumes of as much as 5.5 million metric tons (MMT) in 2026, up from a projected 5.4 MMT in 2025.
“In 2026, the Philippines’ imports are forecast up to a record 5.5 million tons, on continued growth in consumption. The Philippines is expected to remain the largest global rice importer,” the report stated.
The USDA did not elaborate on the reasons for its projections apart from citing an expected growth in population, increased tourism and continued importance of the grain as a staple food.
In 2024, the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) said that the country logged the highest recorded rice imports at 4.78 MMT.
Based on the latest data available from the Bureau of Plant Industry, as of May 2, 2025, total rice imports, which have arrived in the country, were at 1.32 MMT. The bulk of that, or 1.12 MMT equivalent to 84.8 percent of the total, came from Vietnam.
Despite projecting higher volume of rice imports for 2025 and by 2026, the FAS Manila’s report also recognized an expected increase in Philippine rice production but has not provided details.
Earlier, the DA expressed optimism the government would reach its 20.46 MMT record target for palay production this year.
The agency said this year’s first-quarter yield of palay at 4.09 MT per hectare was the highest since the government began recording such data in 1987.
The current record palay harvest in the Philippines was at 20.06 MMT in 2023.
On the other hand, FAS Manila said that the Philippines will import 7.4 MMT of wheat from July 2025 to June 2026, 2.8 percent higher from the projected wheat imports at 7.2 MMT for the period July 2024 to June 2025.
The report said that the increase in imports could be attributed to “growth in demand for food and feed uses.”
The same report also said the Philippines will import as much as 2 MMT of corn from July 2025 to June 2026, or 14.3 percent more than the projected corn imports at 1.75 MMT for the period July 2024 to June 2025.
The FAS Manila projected that Philippine corn imports will grow mainly due to “robust demand supporting sustained growth.”
Earlier, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura disagreed with the FAS Manila’s view on the country’s likely corn imports volume.
The group said the volume of corn to be used by the hog industry, the biggest user of the crop for feeds, is likely to stay flat, along with the industry’s production level, due to the lingering effects of the African Swine Fever.