my %h = %{$self->{hash_ref}}; my @keys = sort { $h{$a} <=> $h{$b} } keys %h; #### DB<100> $self={ hash_ref=>{item1=>'value1',item2=>'value2'} } => { hash_ref => { item1 => "value1", item2 => "value2" } } DB<101> %h=%{$self->{hash_ref}} => ("item1", "value1", "item2", "value2") DB<103> @keys=sort {$h{$a}<=>$h{$b}} keys %h; => ("item1", "item2")