Egg prices have risen more than any item in the Consumer Price Index for almost a year. While the CPI has been up an average of 7%, egg prices have jumped at a rate ten times that. Eggs prices in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world, have reached $9.99 per dozen.
Egg consumption in the US averages 277 per person. So, Americans spend an average of $250 a year on eggs. That sounds like very little. However, a middle-class family that has to cover the cost of transportation, housing, clothing, food, and other daily expenses will find eggs challenging to afford.
Americans have had to be inventive. Foods like vinegar and baking oil have become an alternative. So have buttermilk and yogurt. Most people find that these concoctions taste nothing like eggs.
Egg price inflation is not due primarily to the reasons for inflation of other CPI items. Supply chain issues have triggered an increase in other foods and higher-priced items like cars. Transportation costs have been a reason. Trucking traffic has been undermined by a labor shortage, for example.
Egg price inflation is caused primarily by bird flu. It has killed millions of birds. According to NPR, “The U.S. is enduring an unprecedented poultry health disaster, with a highly contagious bird flu virus triggering the deaths of some 52.7 million animals.”
So far, egg farmers have not found a cure for the disease. This means egg prices could stay high for months.
New York is an example of how high the prices of scarce items could go. If the egg supply worsens, the price for a dozen will jump over $10.
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