Egg prices expected to rise more than 40% in 2025: USDA
Egg prices are at an all-time high and expected to get even worse for consumers, according to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture projection.
The USDA’s latest outlook predicts egg prices will increase 41% in 2025 as a widespread bird flu outbreak continues to devastate egg-laying chicken flocks.
Tuesday’s updated forecast is more than double the 20% jump in egg prices the USDA projected for 2025 a month ago.
The bleak outlook stems from the fact that roughly 18.8 million commercial egg layers were affected by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in January, the highest monthly total since the outbreak began in 2022, the USDA said.
Last month, the average price for a dozen eggs hit a record $4.95, up from $2.52 a year prior. In some places, a carton of eggs can cost $10 or more.
Soaring “egg-flation” has pushed some to take drastic measures, like illegally smuggling eggs into the U.S. from Mexico.Consumer prices rose faster than expected in January, and the USDA now expects grocery prices to increase by 3.3% in 2025, up from 2.2% in last month’s projection.
The optimistic view is that egg prices are volatile, meaning prices could come down in a hurry if the bird flu crisis gets under control.
In Jan. 2023, the price for a dozen eggs soared to $4.82 per dozen before falling to $2.22 just six months later in June.
Broiler chickens, which are raised for meat, haven’t been hit nearly as hard by bird flu as egg-laying hens, which has kept chicken prices stable for now.
Poultry prices are expected to remain largely unchanged in 2025, according to the USDA’s latest
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