Philippine agriculture fell to its lowest share of gross domestic product in history in 2025, deepening concerns over food insecurity, shrinking farmland, and widening trade deficits, according to IBON Foundation.
The agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) sector accounted for just 7.9% of GDP in 2025, the lowest level on record. While the sector’s share has been declining for decades, IBON said the downturn accelerated in the late 1990s following the full implementation of market-oriented reforms in agriculture.
“There’s a deafening silence on a deepening crisis,” the group said, adding that Philippine agriculture is suffering even as government planners shift attention elsewhere.
Data cited by IBON show that agricultural land declined from 9.97 million hectares in 1991 to 6.2 million hectares in 2022, a 38.2% decrease over 31 years following widespread land conversions after the passage of Republic Act 8535, or the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997.
At the same time, farms have become smaller and more fragmented. The number of farms rose from 4.6 million in 1991 to 7.4 million in 2022. More than half, or 56%, are now smaller than half a hectare.
Agriculture’s share in total employment also dropped significantly, from 44.9% in 1991 to 20.6% in 2024. Labor Force Survey data show that in July 2025 alone, the sector lost 2 million jobs, with 1.7 million recovered the following month, leaving at least 300,000 agricultural workers displaced.
Farmers and fisherfolk remain among the poorest sectors in the country. Poverty incidence stands at 32.4% among indigenous peoples, 27.4% among fisherfolk, and 27% among farmers. These figures are based on a poverty threshold of Php92 per person per day, or Php462 per day for a family of five.
Food insecurity has likewise worsened. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 37.8 million Filipinos are moderately or severely food insecure, the highest number in Southeast Asia. The report also estimates that 51 million Filipinos cannot afford a healthy diet.
Trade figures reflect growing import dependence. The agricultural trade deficit expanded from US$42 million in 1994 to US$11.06 billion in 2025, peaking at US$11.8 billion in 2022. In 2024, the Philippines recorded the largest agricultural trade deficit among ASEAN countries.
Rice self-sufficiency declined to 71.7% in 2024, the lowest level in 37 years. Import dependency ratios for key commodities, including rice, garlic, coffee, beef, and pork, also rose sharply between 1993 and 2022.
IBON linked the decline to decades of trade liberalization following the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization, as well as the Rice Tariffication Law of 2019.
Despite posting 3.1% growth in 2025 after a 1.5% contraction in 2024, the sector’s average growth over the past decade was just 0.8%, the group noted.
“Agriculture’s role as a driver of national development has been deliberately sidelined, because power interests benefit from keeping the sector backward and impoverished,” IBON said.
It added that farmers have long been raising concerns about landlessness, precarious employment, and declining food self-sufficiency.
“For the farmers, the basic solution is clear—a people-centered economic planning that transforms the weak and hollow national economy into a robust foundation that prioritizes agriculture, industry, and people’s rights and welfare,” the group said.
