Chicago – February 08, 2025
Egg prices are expected to increase more than 20% in the coming year at least in part due to the highly pathogenic bird flu that is limiting poultry supply in the U.S.
Egg prices increased more than 8% from November to December, according to the Consumer Price Index, and the average cost of one dozen Grade A large eggs in December across the U.S. was $4.15—up from $2.52 at the start of 2024.
Experts say the increases will likely continue as long as outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which began in 2022 and brought record-high egg prices—reaching an average of $4.82 per dozen in January 2023—persist.
Ahead of November’s presidential election in which President Donald Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Republicans made inflation and how costs had risen under then-President Joe Biden a focal point. Voters largely trusted Trump over Harris to handle the economy, and inflation was a primary issue for many voters: The Associated Press reported about 9 in 10 voters “were very or somewhat concerned about the cost of groceries” and many were still hurting from when inflation hit a four-decade high in mid-2022. When he was campaigning, Trump promised he would end the “inflation nightmare” and bring prices down “very quickly,” though economists warned Trump’s plans of imposing tariffs and deporting workers would not help lower costs for Americans
