By Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel
THE PHILIPPINES’ agricultural production grew by 2.6% in 2025, the fastest pace in eight years, as gains in crop output and powerful poultry performance offset the decline in livestock and fisheries, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
Data from the PSA showed the worth of production in agriculture and fisheries at constant 2018 prices rose to P1.77 trillion last 12 months from P1.73 trillion in 2024.
This was a reversal of the two.1% contraction in 2024 when the agriculture sector was affected by drought and dry spells attributable to the El Niño.
This was also the fastest growth in farm output because the 4.3% increase reported in 2017.
The rebound within the farm sector’s performance was driven by the expansion in crops (2.8%) and poultry (9.1%), which helped offset the decline in livestock (-2.3%) and fisheries (-0.3%).
Within the fourth quarter alone, the worth of agricultural production rose by 0.5% to P487.04 billion, despite a drop in crop output. This was a turnaround from the two% contraction through the same period in 2024.
“Increments in the worth of livestock, poultry, and fisheries production contributed to this growth. In contrast, the worth of crop production declined through the said period,” the PSA said, citing constant 2018 prices.
At current prices, nevertheless, the worth of production in agriculture and fisheries fell by 2% 12 months on 12 months to P651.47 billion within the fourth quarter from P664.85 billion previously.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel V. De Mesa told a briefing that while the two.6% full-year growth exceeded the 1-2% goal of the Department of Agriculture (DA), output might have been higher.
“It really surpassed the goal of the DA. It might have been higher, however the typhoons within the last quarter affected the crop subsector. But these typhoons are unavoidable,” he said.
Mr. De Mesa also attributed the rebound in output to the next budget for the farm sector.
“The upper funding is poured into programs on production and productivity of our farmers, including the reduction of post-harvest losses and enhancements in inputs,” he said.
CROP, POULTRY GAINS
Crop output, which accounted for 55.7% of the overall value of agricultural production, rose by 2.8% to P986.81 billion in 2025 from P960.19 billion a 12 months earlier. This was a turnaround from the 4.2% decline in 2024.
Nevertheless, crop output contracted by 2.5% to P274.3 billion within the fourth quarter, driven by a 5.2% decline in palay (unmilled rice) production.
In 2025, palay production rose 3.3%, improving from the 5% contraction a 12 months earlier.
PSA data showed corn production increased by 2.3% in 2025, a turnaround from the three.2% decline in 2024. Coconut also registered a 0.1% increase, an improvement from a 2.7% contraction in 2024.
Double-digit growth was recorded in sugarcane (41.3%), tobacco (19.9%), onion (15.4%), and occasional (11.5%). Increase in production was also seen in cacao (9.4%), rubber (7.7%), and cabbage (4.7%).
Meanwhile, declines in output were recorded in abaca (-13.7%), sweet potato (-11.1%), and mango (-6.8%).
Former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar told BusinessWorld via Viber that full-year crop production rose because of increased government assistance in rice, corn, and high-value crops.
He noted that the decline in crop output within the fourth quarter is “due mainly to the very devastating typhoons and subsequent flooding.”
The poultry sector, which accounted for 17.2% of total farm output, jumped 9.1% to P304.71 billion in 2025 from P279.41 billion a 12 months earlier. The expansion was faster than the 6.6% logged in 2024.
Within the fourth quarter of 2025, poultry output also grew by 8.9% to P78.18 billion from P71.81 billion in the identical period in 2024.
For 2025, chicken production recorded an annual gain of 9.8% by value, while chicken eggs and duck posted 8.4% and 0.6% growth, respectively. Duck eggs, then again, declined 4.1%.
Elias Jose M. Inciong, chairman of the United Broiler Raisers Association, earlier told BusinessWorld that the expansion within the poultry sector could also be attributed to “an influx of recent entrants to the industry.”
DIP IN LIVESTOCK, FISHERIES
Then again, livestock production, which accounted for 13.9% of the overall farm output, contracted by 2.3% to P246.42 billion in 2025, from P252.27 billion in 2024. This marks an improvement from the 4.2% contraction in 2024.
Livestock production within the fourth quarter of 2025 rose by 1% to P68.43 billion, reversing the 6.1% decline in the identical period in 2024.
Dairy was the lone vivid spot within the livestock sector, recording a 27.7% increase in output in 2025, from 13.2% a 12 months earlier.
Hog production, which accounted for 81% of the sector’s total output, fell by 2.7%, improving from the 5% contraction in 2024.
Carabao production slipped by 3.6%, while goat dropped by 2.7% and cattle dipped by 0.2%.
“African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to be the most important think about the full-year decline of livestock,” Mr. Dar said.
ASF, which continues to affect the domestic and global hog industries, is a contagious viral disease lethal to swine and wild boars.
Mr. De Mesa said, nevertheless, that the fourth-quarter growth and slower full-year contraction within the livestock sector point to a continuous recovery within the hog sector.
“Recently, there have been only eight barangays with positive incidence of ASF. Which shows that our hog industry is in a position to adjust to the consequences of ASF. Producers now know tips on how to adjust to the disease and improve their biosecurity,” he said.
Fishery output, which accounted for 13.2% of overall production, also slipped by 0.3% to P233.67 billion in 2025 from P234.31 billion a 12 months earlier. This marks the fourth straight 12 months that fishery production declined.
Within the fourth quarter, fishery output grew by 4% to P66.14 billion from P63.57 billion a 12 months earlier.
Gains were also recorded in 2025 for squid (15.5%), milkfish (11.2%), Indian mackerel (alumahan, 9.6%), yellowfin tuna (tambakol, 6.1%), grouper (lapu-lapu, 5.2%), slipmouth (sapsap, 4.1%), and tilapia (3.3%).
Meanwhile, declines were seen for P. Vannamei (-22.7%), mudcrab (alimango, -12.4%), Bali sardinella (tamban, -11.9%), roundscad (galunggong, -11.7%), and fimbriated sardines (tunsoy, -10.3%).
Norberto O. Chingcuanco, a board member of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute and co-convenor of Tugon Kabuhayan, earlier told BusinessWorld that weather disruptions heavily affected fishery production as an enormous volume of fish escaped from sea cages.
He said, nevertheless, that actual fishery output didn’t decline as lots of the fish that escaped were later caught as community catch, which official statistics cannot track.
‘NO REAL IMPROVEMENT’
Despite the headline growth in farm output, analysts said the gains didn’t necessarily translate into higher livelihoods for farmers and livestock raisers.
Jayson H. Cainglet, executive director of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, told BusinessWorld via Viber that growth figures and production values “are meaningless from the lens of the local agriculture sector.”
Mr. Cainglet said that output growth could still end in losses for producers if production costs rose or farmgate prices collapsed in peak harvest periods.
“There could also be growth (in output), but when production costs also increase, then there isn’t any real improvement. In truth, local producers could have incurred greater losses because of the sharp drop in farmgate prices,” he said.
Mr. Cainglet said the expansion figures might also be misleading, as these are measured against a weaker 2024 base.
Meanwhile, Raul Q. Montemayor, national manager of the Federation of Free Farmers, said the sector’s performance appears less impressive in comparison to levels in 2023, before the farm sector was hit with a series of weather disturbances in 2024.
“There’s lower than half a percent growth over 2023. All major subsectors except poultry declined in 2025 in comparison against 2023 output. Poultry stays the one significant vivid spot in agriculture,” he said.
Mr. Montemayor also said overall sector growth remained weak despite substantial government spending, noting that the rise in output didn’t appear proportional to public investment.
“Between 2025 and 2024, total output at constant 2018 prices rose by around P45 billion, far lower than the quantity of public funds poured into the sector through the 12 months,” he said
In an announcement on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said the DA is “laying the groundwork for a wiser, climate-resilient agriculture” by investing in infrastructure to further improve farm production.
The DA said it’s projecting higher agricultural production in 2026, driven by increased output in poultry and crops and an extra recovery within the livestock sector, particularly within the swine industry.
The agriculture sector accounts for a couple of tenth of the country’s gross domestic product and provides a couple of quarter of all jobs.