In the week before Christmas 2024, bird-flu-related losses in laying flocks and seasonal baking demand pushed regional wholesale egg prices to records. On Dec. 18, large eggs reached $5.57 per dozen in the Midwest, while California’s reported wholesale price was $8.85. Those were regional wholesale benchmarks—not a national price or what every shopper paid at checkout.
What the December 2024 egg-price records measured
Reuters reported on Dec. 20, 2024, that Expana’s Midwest wholesale benchmark for large eggs reached $5.57 per dozen on Dec. 18. That exceeded the previous Midwest record of $5.46, set in December 2022. California’s separate reported wholesale benchmark was $8.85 per dozen. The two figures describe different regional markets; neither should be treated as a nationwide grocery-store price. Reuters’ Dec. 20 report attributes the wholesale prices to Expana.
Retail prices were a different measure. Reuters said the BLS-attributed average retail price for a dozen eggs exceeded $3.60 in November 2024, compared with $2.50 at the start of that year; it also reported a September average of $3.80. These are figures as reported secondhand by Reuters, not independently verified here against the original BLS series. They should not be compared directly with the Midwest or California wholesale benchmarks.
Why prices rose before Christmas
Bird flu reduced the laying flock
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), commonly called bird flu, killed or led to the removal of laying hens, leaving fewer birds producing eggs. USDA’s November 2024 outlook described the resulting supply pressure: September table-egg production was 637.5 million dozen, down 2.6% from a year earlier, and the Oct. 1 inventory of table-egg layers was 312.2 million birds, also down 2.6% year over year. USDA said October HPAI confirmations resulted in the loss of 2.8 million egg layers in Utah, Washington and Oregon. These figures appear in the USDA Economic Research Service’s November 2024 Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook.
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Holiday baking added seasonal demand
Reuters reported that shoppers were buying eggs for Christmas cookies and other holiday treats, adding demand at a time when supply was already tight. Bird flu was a major supply constraint, but it does not by itself explain every difference between regional prices or between wholesale and retail prices.
California faced a separate sourcing constraint
Reuters said California’s rules prohibited farmers from raising hens in cages, adding a constraint to the state’s egg sourcing. That point applies to the California market described in the report; it should not be generalized as the explanation for prices across the country.
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Why grocery prices did not match wholesale records
Wholesale benchmarks and retail averages track different parts of the supply chain. USDA ERS later explained that wholesale prices often move more sharply, while retailer contracts and pricing strategies can soften or delay changes at the shelf. A record wholesale quote therefore does not mean every store immediately charged that amount—or changed its price by the same amount.
For household budgets, the distinction matters: a dated wholesale record describes a market benchmark, while the price a shopper faces depends on retailer, location, timing and the product sold. The November retail figure Reuters attributed to BLS is more relevant to what consumers were paying on average than either regional wholesale quote, but it is still a monthly average rather than a promise about any particular store.
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How the December spike fits the wider 2024–25 outbreak
USDA’s November 2024 outlook projected 2024 table-egg production at 7,783 million dozen, 1% below 2023, and projected 2025 production at 8,110 million dozen. Those were forecasts, not final production totals. They help explain the supply outlook available at the time, but they do not establish what production ultimately was.
A later USDA ERS retrospective puts the December snapshot in a broader context: the HPAI wave from mid-October 2024 through early March 2025 resulted in the depopulation of 50.7 million egg-laying hens. ERS said tight supply coinciding with strong seasonal demand pushed egg prices to all-time highs by February 2025. This later account describes what happened after the December 2024 report; it is not a fact that report could have known at publication. See the USDA ERS June 2025 retrospective.
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