You might want to skip that breakfast omelet and switch to cereal: the average cost of a dozen eggs is now more expensive than a gallon of gas.
Like most groceries, the price of eggs skyrocketed in 2022, according to the consumer price index (CPI). Data. The wholesale price for a dozen eggs is around $3.30 in the United States and over $7 in some states.
U.S. drivers currently pay an average of $3.27 a gallon, down from a over $5 last summer.
Keep in mind that the egg prices shown are at the wholesale level. The actual prices paid by customers in grocery stores are generally higher as higher wholesale costs are passed on to the consumer.
CPI data shows that the average retail cost in American cities for a dozen eggs rose nearly 50% from $1.72 in November 2021 to a record high of $5.59 in November 2022. Poultry and eggs have seen some of the highest cost increases in 2022, the wholesale trade turkeys hitting $1.70 a pound ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, $0.40 higher than a year earlier.
Rising consumer demand and a widespread outbreak of bird flu affecting the poultry industry are to blame, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. More than 57 million birds in 47 states have been infected with the virus as of January 6, rendering them and their eggs unfit for human consumption.
USDA Data shows that egg production fell from 9.7 billion in December 2021 to 8.9 billion in November 2022.
States with the worst outbreaks see some of the costliest consequences of the outbreak. In California, where more than 750,000 birds have been destroyed due to the infection in the past year, a dozen eggs now cost buyers $7.37 wholesale, according to USDA data.
Low supply is not the only factor linked to the rising cost of eggs: Americans have reduced their purchases of red meat in recent years in favor of healthier proteins such as eggs and poultry, The USDA says. Although the likelihood of humans contracting bird flu from poultry or wild birds remains low, the financial toll of the outbreak on the industry is expected to continue to hit grocery store shelves.
The last comparable outbreak of avian influenza occurred in 2015, when 50 million chickens and turkeys were slaughtered. The USDA estimates the outbreak has cost the industry about $3.3 billion.
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