Office worker Kim Won-jin (56) lingered in front of the egg display at Emart in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 13th. The shelf in front of the price tag reading ‘White eggs, 30-count, 8,480 won’ was empty. All the eggs that seemed a bit cheaper had sold out, and only the most expensive animal-welfare fertilized eggs priced at 12,980 won remained. He did not put eggs in his cart that day.

Kim, who had boiled and eaten two eggs a day until prices rose, said that even with discount coupons the price feels burdensome, and that other food ingredient prices have also gone up, increasing the household burden.

As egg prices, which had been stabilizing, began rising again, the government decided to bring in an additional total of 4.48 million eggs from the United States and Thailand. However, there are projections that egg prices will continue to climb for the time being due to the aftereffects of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in winter and higher production costs caused by the war in the Middle East.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 14th that it will import 2.24 million from the United States by the 19th and 1.12 million from Thailand by the 27th, and in June will bring in an additional 1.12 million from whichever of the two countries offers the lower price.

All of the roughly 46,000 trays of ‘Thai fresh eggs’ that Homeplus sold over six rounds since last month have also sold out.

Although the government has already sequentially imported 5.64 million fresh eggs since January, prices are rising again.

According to data from the Livestock Products Quality Evaluation Institute, the consumer price for a tray (30 eggs) of extra-large eggs was 7,316 won as of the previous day, 4.1% higher than the average for last year (7,026 won). It fell to 6,910 won by the third week of April and seemed to stabilize, but then exceeded 7,000 won again in the first week of this month. This month it has continued to climb from the first week (7,073 won) to the second week of May (7,291 won) and the third week of May (7,373 won).

The main cause of rising egg prices is cited as the fallout from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). During the 2025~2026 winter, 11.34 million laying hens (egg-laying hens) were culled, the largest number after 2020~2021 (16.96 million). Although disease control efforts concluded last month, analysts note that it takes about six months for chicks to grow into laying hens, so supply recovery will take time.

In a March ‘Livestock Outlook’ report, the Korea Rural Economic Institute projected that egg production in May∼June will decrease by about 3% compared with last year.

Rising production costs are also adding to the burden. As tensions in the Middle East have pushed up fuel and feed prices, livestock costs have increased. In fact, the price of indoor kerosene used for heating poultry houses (duty-free fuel basis) was 1,401.98 won per ℓ in the first week of May, up about 25% from the average for last year. The price of compound feed for poultry also rose 4.4% to 565 won per ㎏, compared with November last year (541 won).

In addition, according to an announcement by the Korea Fair Trade Commission that day, suspected collusion by the laying-hen association also appears to have partly affected the rise in egg prices.

An official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said that past collusion on farm-gate prices by the Korea Laying Hen Association also influenced market prices. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs decided that day to review measures to sanction the laying-hen association.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs also plans to enhance price-information services centered on the Livestock Products Quality Evaluation Institute and to institutionalize the introduction of a standard transaction contract, including price, specifications, and transaction period, to improve trading practices between farms and distributors.