Egg prices are going up again ahead of Easter 2024
FILE - Deviled eggs are pictured at an Easter Brunch on April 4, 2021, in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images )
Egg prices in the U.S. are going up again, putting a crack in many Americans’ budgets going into Easter.
The price of eggs climbed 8.4% in February from January, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI). A dozen eggs cost an average price of just under $3 in February, federal data shows – compared to roughly $2.50 in December.
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For more comparison, a dozen eggs cost $2.04 in August 2023, and only $1.20 in June 2019 – the lowest price in at least a decade, according to CPI data.
February’s average price is still significantly down from last year, when a dozen eggs peaked at $4.82 in January 2023. In fact, egg prices were most searched in the "Why is/are… so expensive" category in the U.S., according to data from Google’s "Year in Search" for 2023.
A higher demand for eggs leading up to Easter can have an impact on the price, but experts say this is also happening alongside a limited supply due to an ongoing bird flu outbreak.
Cases of avian influenza began being detected in early 2022 and have affected 82 million birds across 48 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bird flu similarly led to record egg prices and widespread shortages last year, and dealt an economic blow to poultry farmers, workers and their customers. After egg prices peaked in January 2023, they declined or stabilized through much of 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But prices have increased again in recent months after the bird flu was confirmed in egg layers in November 2023, the USDA said. The outbreak affected almost 20 million birds in November and December 2023, and slowed to about 2 million in January and February 2024, the department said.
Will egg prices go down soon?
FILE - Thousands of dyed eggs are ready to be rolled by children during the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 17, 2017, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Egg prices are predicted to decrease 2.8% in 2024, the USDA said in its 2024 Food Price Outlook.
However, it noted a wide prediction interval – -17.2% to 14.6% – due to "the volatility in retail egg prices."
Overall, prices for most food categories in 2024 are predicted to change at a rate below their 20-year historical average, the USDA said.
This story was reported from Cincinnati.