Government hints at possible intervention to control egg prices following bird flu spike in Spain
This staple item in the grocery basket rose by 22% last month, double the EU average
The bird flu crisis in Spain, which has forced the national Ministry of Agriculture to decree the confinement of outdoor birds in all farms in the country, has caused the price of eggs to soar to historic levels. The government is currently assessing whether it is necessary to take price containment measures, as was done with the price of olive oil when it began to spiral out of control. This was confirmed on Wednesday by minister of economy Carlos Cuerpo, who explained that the price is rising due to several factors, including the bird flu, which has already forced producers and farmers to slaughter 5% of the hens in Spain.
In October alone, the price of eggs in Spain rose by 5% and by 22.5% compared to last year. According to Eurostat data, Spain is the fifth country in the Eurozone with the highest increase in the price of this staple product, behind only Portugal. The rise in the price of eggs in October in Spain is double the EU average of 10.5% and almost three times the Eurozone average of 7.7%.
The cut in IVA (Spanish sales tax) on eggs to 4% - currently at 10% - has not been commented on by minister Cuerpo, who only said that prices will be "monitored" in case "additional measures" are needed. He stated that price increases are widespread across Europe. What measures has the government taken so far? Up to now, it has focused on confining birds to avoid further infections.
Cuerpo also said that eggs "barely account for 0.2% of the average grocery list" and "have not significantly affected overall food prices". The data, however, contradicts this. Spain remains among the countries with the highest inflation in Europe, exceeding the latest CPI figure for October by more than 1%. Inflation in the Eurozone eased by 0.1% in October, down to 2.1%, while in Spain it accelerated by 0.2% to 3.2%. In neighbouring economic powers such as France (0.8%), Germany (2.3%) and Italy (1.3%), prices rose much less in October than in Spain.
