Egg prices up 71.8%; overall inflation rate sits at 7.9%
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
A man bearing a tray of eggs kneels in front of a woman in the photo captioned: “Impress her with something expensive.” Another meme shows the actor Steve Carrell holding a tray of eggs. “Sell these and you can buy a Tesla," the caption reads.
The skyrocketing prices of the breakfast staple have set off scores of egg memes across social media. For frustrated consumers, eggs have become a “luxury” item, moving gasoline down the list and making the poultry product a symbol of what has been whimsically dubbed "eggflation crisis" in the U.S.
Guam consumers were shocked when egg prices went up 40 percent last year. In December, egg prices further soared 71.8 percent compared to the same period one year earlier, according to the Bureau of Statistics' Consumer Price Index report for the fourth quarter of 2022 released today.
Egg prices increased 13.6 percent over the preceding quarter, according to the CPI report.
Guam's egg price increase is higher than that of the U.S., where they rose 60 percent during the same period.
At an average price of $7.49 per dozen, Guam ranked next to Hawaii among the states and territories with the most expensive eggs in the United States, where the median price is $4.25.
Next to Guam is the Northern Marianas, where consumers pay an average of $6.99 per dozen.
According to Instacart, the top five states spending the most on one dozen eggs are the following: Hawaii - $9.73 average; Florida - $6.36 average; Alabama - $6.12 average; Nevada - $6.07 average; and California - $6.05 average.
The unprecedented egg price increases are attributed to the avian flu that has decimated chicken farms, affecting as many as 58 million chickens.
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On Guam, overall prices of consumer goods climbed 7.9 percent as the dollar’s purchasing power dropped $0.02, according to the BSP's CPI report.
The consumer price index, which measures a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, showed an increase of 3.8 percent over the third quarter of 2022, and 11.2 percent higher compared to the same period one year earlier.
The food group index of 183.7 shows an increase of 3.2 percent over the preceding quarter and 10.4 percent when compared to the same period one year earlier.
Electricity prices increased 12.8 percent over the preceding quarter and 72.7 percent when compared to the same period one year earlier.
Read the full report here.
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