Rice prices continue decline in March

The retail prices of the country’s main staple, rice, continued its contraction trend for the third straight month in March, according to a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

At a press conference in Quezon City, National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa reported a year-on-year contraction in rice inflation of -7.7%, a faster decline from the -4.9% deflation seen in February.

The trend of easing inflation for rice seen since August 2024 was consistent with the PSA’s expectation that it will begin easing towards the second half of 2024 due to base effects, particularly when it began its uptrend in August 2023, as well as the impact of lower rice import tariff which took effect early July.

Executive Order No. 62, issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in June 2024, reduced the tariff rate for imported rice to 15% from 35%.

“Ang rice prices talaga malaki na rin ang kanyang binaba… Makikita naman natin sa presyo talaga,” Mapa said.

(Rice prices have seen a huge decline… we can see it really in its retail prices.)

To illustrate the contraction in rice inflation seen last month, Mapa bared the year-on-year national average prices of regular, well-milled, and special rice varieties during the period.

In particular, the following are the average prices of rice at the national level in March 2025:

• Regular milled - P46.09 per kilo from P51.11 per kilo in March 2024
• Well-milled - P52.25 per kilo from, P56.44 per kilo
• Special - P62.15 per kilo from P64.75 per kilo year-on-year

The PSA earlier said that rice will maintain a negative inflation following the declaration of a food security emergency on the grain and the further reductions of the MSRP (maximum suggested retail price) of imported rice.

The declaration of food security emergency has allowed the National Food Authority (NFA) to sell its buffer stocks to the public at P35 per kilo to tame the retail prices of the grain.

Beginning March 31, the Department of Agriculture slashed further the MSRP of imported rice to P45 per kilo from P49 per kilo.

The DA first introduced the MSRP on January 20, setting an initial price of P58 per kilo.

The imposition of an MSRP on imported rice is described by the DA as a “non-coercive” measure aimed at steering retail prices of imported rice to reflect the steady decline in world market prices and the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to slash rice tariffs from 35% to 15%.

The DA has since gradually reduced the MSRP to ease the transition for the rice industry. —VAL, GMA Integrated News