Egg prices were on average 31.1% more expensive for consumers in February 2023, compared to the same month last year, new data has shown.
A combination of avian flu, inflation, rising energy costs and supply chain challenges have all impacted the price of eggs, with the price rising significantly in some markets – in Czechia, for example, egg prices are 95% more expensive than they were a year ago.
Prices have also skyrocketed in markets such as Hungary (+79.2%), Slovakia (78.8%), Bulgaria (71.4%) and the United States (+55.4%), according to the data, which was compiled by Eurostat and Dutch statistics agency CBS.
Above-Average Increases
Other markets to report an increase in egg prices above the EU average included Lithuania (+47.1%), Estonia (+44.8%), Portugal (+41.0%), Latvia (+39.9%), Denmark (+38.0%), Poland (+35.6%), Romania (34.6%) and Finland (+32.6%).
The price increase on eggs was lowest in Switzerland (+10.6%) and Norway, where prices rose by just 8.2%.
According to CBS, The Netherlands exports far more eggs than it imports. In 2022, the Netherlands exported nearly €1.5 billion worth of eggs, with the majority (nearly three quarters) remaining within the EU.
Read More: Britain’s Broken Egg Industry Shows The Price Of Food Inflation
Ration Purchasing
Last November, an avian flu breakout forced some British retailers to ration customer purchases of eggs, after supplies were disrupted.
“While avian flu has disrupted the supply of some egg ranges, retailers are experts at managing supply chains and are working hard to minimise impact on customers," Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium said at the time.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more fresh-produce news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
