The continued rise in the Philippines’s purchases of pork propelled the country’s meat imports in January to August, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
The latest data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture showed that meat imports during the 8-month period climbed by 7.6 percent to 1.14 million metric tons (MMT) from last year’s 1.06 MMT.
Pork shipments rose by 5.16 percent to 602,655 metric tons (MT), accounting for more than half of the total shipments, from 573,091 MT in 2025. The bulk of the imports were pork cuts and offals at 254,524 MT and 182,969 MT, respectively.
Imported pork products are expected to plug the deficit in domestic output caused by the deadly hog disease African swine fever (ASF), which continues to affect local hog output.
Chicken shipments grew by almost 15 percent to 369,926 MT from 322,007 MT, based on BAI data. Mechanically deboned meat (MDM) accounted for the lion’s share of the shipments at 216,427 MT, followed by chicken leg quarter at 74,915 MT.
Meat products like buffalo and lamb, also jumped on an annual basis as of August when it went up to 37,855 MT from 29,316 MT and 723 MT from 550 MT, respectively.
Meanwhile, duck imports soared by 829.07 percent to 900 MT from 96 MT a year ago, according to BAI data.
Beef imports, however, fell by 5.43 percent to 124,830 MT from last year’s 131,991 MT. Most of these shipments consisted of beef cuts at 81,540 MT, followed by fats at 23,540 MT.
Turkey shipments also dropped by 19.72 percent to 63 MT, from the 79 MT posted in the same period last year.
Brazil was still the country’s largest supplier of beef (50,526 MT), chicken (206,476 MT), and pork (284,127 MT) products in the reference period.
The country’s meat imports jumped to over 1.6 million metric tons (MMT) in 2025, a new all-time high, based on BAI data.
Data from the agency indicated that the Philippines imported 1.64 MMT of meat shipments last year, up by some 13 percent from the 1.45 MMT in 2024.
Pork, the Filipinos’ favorite protein source, drove meat imports last year. Purchases rose by 16 percent to 851,760 MT in 2025 from 733,729 MT in the previous year.