Egg prices are setting new records in the US, rising more than 350% per dozen compared to this time last year.
Restaurants have been raising prices to keep up with the cost of eggs, with the combination of inflation and avian influenza sending prices skyrocketing.
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Bernt Nelson, economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, said eggs were considered an ‘inelastic good'.
"This means that even when egg prices change, consumers still buy about the same amount of eggs," he said.
US egg prices
"Unlike other products, in many applications such as baking, eggs do not have good substitutes. They are also a healthy – and typically the most affordable – source of protein, which makes them desirable even if prices go up.
"This relatively unchanging demand for eggs means that supply factors can have a big impact on egg prices."
The loss of egg-laying chickens due to avian flu is the biggest factor, with over 128 million layers affected since 2022.
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Mr Nelson said: "According to USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS), the monthly national average price for large Grade A eggs in January was a record-high $4.95 (£3.82) per dozen.
"Some 12 million birds, mostly layers, were lost in February, bringing the total number of birds affected so far in 2025 to over 35 million and driving egg prices even higher. The daily national average price for a dozen large eggs was $8.15 (£6.30) per dozen on March 4, 2025."
He highlighted higher prices for eggs ‘do not mean farmers are getting rich'.
Avian flu
While the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) does have an indemnity program which provides compensation for infected or exposed poultry and eggs destroyed to control HPAI, this indemnity does not cover costs during the time the farm goes without income.
"On top of the economic loss, the death of an entire flock, sometimes millions of birds, from avian influenza is a traumatic experience for farm families."
Inflation was also driving prices higher.
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"Inflation does more than drive up the price of eggs in the grocery store, it also raises the cost of everything it takes to produce eggs on the farm and get them on grocery store shelves," he said, adding with input costs and risk from avian flu being an egg farmer was a ‘risky business'.
Replacement costs for both egg layers and broilers have also increased.
