Egg Prices Increase Worldwide Amid Bird Flu, Ukraine War

Severe outbreaks of bird flu in the United States and France are tightening global egg supplies and raising prices for the food staple as the war in Ukraine disrupts shipments to Europe and the Middle East.

Higher prices are particularly painful for consumers who rely on eggs as a low-cost source of protein and substitute for more expensive meat.

Demand jumps around the Easter and Passover holidays in the United States and Europe as families use eggs to bake and dye Easter eggs.

Bird flu has wiped out more than 19 million egg-laying chickens on commercial US farms this year in the worst outbreak since 2015, eliminating about 6% of the country’s flock, according to Reuters calculations of federal and state government data.

France, meanwhile, is suffering its worst outbreak ever in which about 8% of egg-laying hens have been culled.

ESM