The price of eggs in the European Union was on average 30% higher in January 2023 than it was a year earlier according to new figures published today (Friday, March 10).
According to a Eurostat report there has been a consistent rise in the price of eggs in the EU since January 2021.
The latest figures suggest egg prices increased by 22% in Ireland in January 2023 compared to prices paid in January 2022.
The highest increase in annual inflation for eggs was recorded in the Czech Republic, where prices rose by 85% in January 2023 compared with January 2022 and in Hungary, where egg prices jumped by 80% and Slovakia by 79%.
The latest analysis on egg prices reflects the ongoing trend of increased food prices across the EU because of inflationary pressures.
According to Eurostat eggs are one of the food products which have shown some of the highest price increases, its research also highlights that the price of cereals and milk has also risen sharply.
The price hikes have been mainly blamed on the war in Ukraine, last year’s weather patterns including drought and inflationary pressures.
But while the latest Eurostat report highlights the increase in the price paid for eggs by consumers across Europe, this price increase has according to farm bodies not been passed on to egg producers in Ireland.
Nigel Sweetnam, chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) national poultry committee, has warned that while prices of eggs on the supermarket shelf have gone up “substantially” this is not reflected in the price paid to producers.
He has repeatedly warned that egg producers “cannot sustain” their businesses based on current prices.
The IFA has called on retailers to “pass back more money” through the supply chain to farmers.
Egg producers have said they need “2c per egg be returned to farm gate” and that payments should be made within 30 days of collection of eggs from the farm.