Egg prices are finally falling back to earth after nearing $5 a dozen earlier this year

• Egg prices seem to be on track to dropping to normal levels across the US.
• Earlier this year, prices reached record highs of nearly $5 a dozen in some places.
• The prices were driven by inflation and a massive outbreak of avian flu that killed millions of chickens.

After months of all-time high prices and accusations of price gouging against egg producers, the cost of a dozen eggs appears be on track to returning back down to earth.

Federal data on groceries shows that egg prices have fallen every month since the start of the year, when the average price peaked at nearly $5 for a dozen eggs — more than double the average price of about $1.92 recorded in January 2022. 

The US Department of Agriculture recently reported that wholesale egg prices have fallen to an average price anywhere from $1 to $1.40 across various regions of the country. Several grocery store executives also recently told the Wall Street Journal that egg prices should largely be under $2 per dozen across the US.

The price hike was caused by several factors, including inflation making every part of the egg production, packaging, and shipping process more expensive last year, Insider previously reported. Along with months of that inflation driving up prices, the worst outbreak of bird flu the US has ever seen shot prices up even further as the disease killed millions of birds, hampering the supply of eggs in the country.

Record high prices drove some to take alternatives, like getting their own chickens to produce their own eggs for cheaper than they could get them at the store. Prices finally started to fall in recent months for eggs and other grocery staples like bacon, Insider previously reported.

The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index found that egg prices had fallen to about $3.27 per dozen in April, and the Journal reported data from research firm NIQ, which found prices were about $2.70 per dozen by the end of April.

The USDA has reported an increase in the egg-laying hen population across the US of about 5% compared to last May, and a bump of about 1% from April to May, according to the Journal.

While the calming of the bird flu outbreak will contribute to lower prices, they may never fall all the way back to pre-inflation prices, Insider's Hannah Getahun reported earlier this year. This is largely because more farmers are transitioning to what's thought by many to be more ethical forms of egg production, including putting an emphasis on cage-free environments for their hens, which takes up more space and is usually more expensive.