Philippines rice prices soar… ‘food security emergency’ declared

The Philippines has fallen into a state of national emergency due to skyrocketing rice prices. The Philippines, which was a rice exporter in the 1990s, has become the world's largest rice importer as a result of neglecting food production. Some point out that this has many implications for Korea as well. According to Reuters and the Manila Times, the Philippine government declared a "food security emergency" on the 3rd (local time) to prevent the rise in rice prices. The Philippine Department of Agriculture has decided to release half of the 300,000 tons of rice reserves stored by the National Food Administration over the next six months. The Philippines has suffered from extreme rice price increases since 2023. The retail price of rice per 20 kg rose 34.2% from 760 pesos (19,003 won) in early 2022 to 1,020 pesos (25,474 won) in September last year. As of March last year, the annual increase rate of rice prices reached 24.4%, the highest in 15 years. In order to stabilize ...