Bad news for bakers, brunch enthusiasts, and Dwayne Johnson: the sky-high egg prices you’re seeing on supermarket shelves are only expected to keep rising.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook for 2025, released Friday, predicted that egg prices would increase by more than 20% in the year ahead — which is significant, since food prices overall are expected to climb by 2.2%, a rate similar to that observed over the past year.
That prediction, presumably made at least a few weeks ago, is already coming true: the latest USDA price report reveals that wholesale prices for a carton of large, Grade A eggs have soared to $6.57 per dozen, the highest on record. In the last report in November, they were just $4.17.
Steeper by the dozen
After climbing in 2022, and then dropping again in 2023, the cost of eggs jumped again last year — rising some 36.8% for all urban consumers in the 12 months ending December 2024. That makes for one of the largest food product price rises observed in the US, along with beef, coffee, and orange juice. The prices of other consumer goods like airline fares and motor insurance also saw stark upswings.
(Sherwood News)
So why are prices still rising?
Since an ongoing outbreak of avian flu began in 2022, which has been detected again this month, egg and poultry prices have been playing chicken, experiencing “volatile month-to-month changes,” the USDA said. According to the latest Egg Markets Overview report:
“The [inclement] weather only compounded already challenging supply issues resulting from recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in states that had largely escaped outbreaks in 2024.
Shell egg availability remains limited and inconsistent in many retail markets with many affected grocers employing steps to limit consumer purchasing to stretch their existing supplies including limiting or ending promotional activity, placing limits on units purchased per shopping trip, and holding prices at record or near-record highs — none of which helps to spur demand.”
Still, yoked-up costs might not be enough to stop consumers from stocking up on their beloved scramble fodder.
Speaking with CNN, the president and CEO of the American Egg Board said that the industry has seen “more than 20 consecutive months of record-high demand.”
