Concerns over Egg Price Surge Grow in Japan

Newsfrom Japan

Economy

Oct 23, 2025 08:30 (JST)

Tokyo, Oct. 23 (Jiji Press)–Concerns over a surge in egg prices are increasing in Japan as this season’s first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a poultry farm in the country was confirmed Wednesday.

Egg prices are coming close to a record high, and a further spike would be possible if infections spread and egg supplies decrease as a result.

The first highly pathogenic bird flu case this season was confirmed at a chicken farm in the town of Shiraoi in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. About 459,000 laying hens at the farm will be destroyed to prevent further infections.

Wholesale prices remain high after soaring due to a large avian flu outbreak last season, standing at 325 yen per kilogram of midsize eggs in Tokyo as of Wednesday, close to the current record high of 350 yen marked in the spring of 2023, according to JA Zen-Noh Tamago Co.

A major bird flu outbreak hit the country in the season from autumn 2022 to spring 2023. The number of laying hens culled at the time reached a record high of about 16.54 million, causing egg supply shortages and a spike in prices in a phenomenon called “egg shock.”

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Jiji Press