Mercedes Alcántara spends more than 700 euros per month on eggs. It is a few months ago, but he has no choice but to resign himself if he wants to keep his restaurant open, Lavapiés’ broken, specializing in dishes based on this food and potatoes. At domestic level, Belén García has also noticed an increase in price in this product. This week he has paid 3.65 for a box of six camper eggs in a supermarket, about 30 cents than he paid last year. But “it is a basic good, so you adapt,” he insists.
In supermarkets, the egg has reached its maximum price in February of this year, its data shows that, in a matter of nine months, the dozen medium white white eggs has gone from costing 2.05 to 2.14 euros. It is an increase of almost 5%. “It is a high rise compared to the general consumption price index of that period, which rose 2.5% and even higher if compared only to the food index that was 2.1%,” they remember from OCU.
The National Institute of Statistics shows that between February 2022 and the same month of 2025, this product has been increasing almost 40%, being the second food that has regretted the most, only behind olive oil. But, unlike this, which has been reduced by 25%in the last year, the eggs have continued to rise in price. Specifically, the price index shows an additional accumulated of 4% in that period.
The factors behind this increase are multiple and range from the increase in Mari Luz de Santos consumption, director of the Spanish Federation of Companies in the egg production and ovoproduct production sector (Federovro), explains that the popularity of this food has increased in all countries of the European Union, among other reasons, because it is seen as an accessible and healthy protein source. “While the demand grows, the supply in the European Union is being affected by the avian influenza, especially in countries of northern Europe, and has led to the disappearance of about 15 million laying hens in recent months,” he details.
Spain has no case of avian flu since February 2023, so the price increase is not due directly to this phenomenon ,. However, the national economy is an important producer, with 14% of the volume of the European Union. Regular, 20% of the annual production is exported, but Santos considers that the figure is increasing as a result of the virus spotlights detected in other areas of the old continent, although there are still no statistics that confirm it.
The president of Mercadona, Juan Roig, has also justified the increase in this food for the propagation of the avian flu. “The rise in the egg, which has been 15%, or 20% [en sus precios de venta]It has been because in the US gallins have died, ”he said this week during the presentation of the company’s results. In this way, he alluded to shock of offer and the possible increase in national exports due to a lack of supply in America.
Even without the increase in export, the fact is that national demand has also increased. Until November last year – we last updated data – Spanish households consumed 3.2% more eggs, until the nine kilograms per capita, according to the monthly food report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In the same document there is already an increase in the average value of the purchase ticket, although less than the figures currently handled by the OCU.
From the field to supermarket
Despite the criticisms of the price and destination difference, the fact is that on both sides there has been an increase. In the first case, if the Toledo market is taken as reference, the last contributions that were set on February 28 are between 1.74 euros for a dozen small eggs of chickens raised in a cage, up to 2.70 euros for an XL box from chickens that are not locked. This is a 12 cents rise in euro in just one week. Last year, for these same dates, the contributions of the same categories were 1.38 euros and 2.41 euros, respectively, which represents a rebound between 10% and 20%.
Sources of the distribution insist that if the price of the egg in origin has risen approximately 15%, in supermarkets the increase is even less than half, so they deny that it is an increase in the margins. Beyond the difference between the cost of production and the final price, which is always a thorny issue in the food sector, the OCU insists that “from the point of view of the costs, there should not be an increase in this nature. The rest of agricultural products with similar cost structures (type of farm production) shows a more moderate evolution. Although they are not the same, they serve as a reference. ”
In the midst of this panorama, some consumers look suspiciously since July 2024, the tax has been progressively increasing to return to the usual type of 4% in January this year. However, from Federovro they point out that its impact is lower when its purchase value is analyzed. “From 0% to 4% in a dozen eggs of two euros [precio de venta al público] They would be eight cents. By average annual consumption, this translates into 1.12 euros extra. It does not seem like a relevant figure for a basic food that participates in the shopping basket in 1.5%, ”he concludes from Santos.
