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Egg prices are skyrocketing in the United States. A more lethal variant of avian flu, breeding restrictions for poultry in certain states, inflation, and increased demand during the holidays are behind a crisis that could be resolved within a maximum of nine months. Nevertheless, prices will continue to rise this year.
The price of a dozen eggs doubled between 2022 and 2023 in the United States, rising from $1.93 to $4.82 during that period, and has continued to increase since then. In fact, in New York, a dozen eggs costs $6.06, and in California, $8.70. Official figures indicate an 8.2% increase in November 2024 (the latest available data), and by the end of last year, the annual rise was nearly 70%. Behind these exorbitant prices is a more lethal strain of avian influenza that, according to El País, was detected two years ago in 48 of the 50 states in the country.
Since then, the epidemic has affected 134 million birds in the United States, and experts no longer hesitate to identify this avian flu as the worst outbreak in the country's history. This has led some supermarkets to put up signs limiting sales to two cartons of eggs per person. The shortage is so severe that in a large store in Florida, prices have soared to $10.50, and as one consumer remarks, they are now more expensive than shrimp.
But not everything is the fault of this new lethal variant of avian flu. The implementation of Proposition 12 in California is also likely to have an influence; this new regulation restricts the breeding of hens to specific spaces with certain dimensions. This legislation is already in effect in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Colorado, and Massachusetts.
In addition to the restrictions, the effects of inflation and high market demand in the last two months of the year due to the holiday season must be taken into account. Experts assure that the egg crisis will end within a maximum period of six to nine months, while official forecasts indicate that prices will continue to rise, with an increase of 11.4% expected for this year.
In January 2023, Florida was already the second state with the most expensive eggs in the United States, according to data from a retail company that operates a grocery delivery and pickup service in the United States and Canada.
However, in May of that year, the wholesale price fell below one dollar per dozen and outlets like CNN claimed that this would be the trend in the following months, which did not happen. According to experts, this decrease was due to lower demand for the product in the market, and at that time it was believed that the crisis had been overcome.
In December, the exorbitant prices of eggs led a Cuban to publicly complain about paying $20 for a carton of 60 eggs at Walmart. "It used to cost $5, then $7, $9, $11... and now $20! How long are the Walmart hens going to keep having fever?”, he said in a viral TikTok video.
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