my @items = values %$rss; my @sorted_items = sort { $a->{'nzgls'}{'unixtime'} <=> $b->{'nzgls'}{'unixtime'} } @items; # or just # my @sorted_items = sort { # $a->{'nzgls'}{'unixtime'} <=> $b->{'nzgls'}{'unixtime'} # } values %$rss;