Jul 23, 2026
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Add us on GoogleIt wasn’t long ago that eggs were top of mind for Americans, with a spike in prices dominating headlines and even becoming a talking point in the last presidential election.
Now, China is seeing its own egg-price shock, with state media referring to the price hikes as “rocket eggs,” according to The New York Times.
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A July report from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that prices in 10 major producing provinces have climbed 44.7% compared to a year ago. The national average price is up 27% year-over-year, according to the report, which was also cited by The Times.
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The ‘rocket egg’ paradox
China is the world’s largest producer of eggs, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In 2024, 33% of the world’s eggs were produced in China, with India in a distant second place at 9%, followed by Indonesia and the U.S., both at 7%.
China also ranks near the top when it comes to eggs consumed per capita, according to the FAO’s data.
The Times notes that the “rocket egg” price surge is something of a “paradox,” as its economy is “still struggling to shake off widespread deflation, in which industrial overcapacity and reluctant consumers have led to falling prices for several years.”
China’s economy grew 4.3% in the second quarter of this year, the country’s slowest growth rate in three years, according to a separate Times report.
However, a Wall Street Journal report stated that “China’s economic data are notoriously prone to fiddling for political purposes,” and that “there’s accumulating evidence that the country’s true GDP growth rate may be zero, or that the economy is in outright recession.”
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So, why has the price of eggs skyrocketed in China?
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Some blame Trump
While an avian influenza outbreak in 2025 stoked egg prices in the U.S., China’s current egg-price woes are the result of farmers’ actions.
Aspen Li, an analyst who observes the egg market, told the Times that after several bumper-crop years, farmers expanded their operations in 2024 and 2025, increasing their number of egg-laying hens by bigger margins than ever. The market was subsequently flooded with eggs, prices dropped and farmers then couldn’t afford to feed their flocks.
The farmers then culled chickens “at a rate that experts considered excessive,” according to The Times report. Instead of a correction to the market, it meant that “eventually, there were not enough egg-laying hens to meet demand,” and prices began to shoot up.
The impact of the Iran war is being felt in China as well, with fuel prices on the rise, leading some in the country to blame President Trump for the “rocket eggs” crisis.
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“Owners at one restaurant in the coastal town of Tianjin stuck a sign in their storefront window to explain that they were raising the price of jianbing, a crepe of eggs, greens and deep fried crackers, by the equivalent of seven cents because of ‘Trump driving up prices,’” the Times reports.
One food stall owner who sells jianbing told the Times that a two or three day supply of eggs once cost him $25 — now, it’s $35. The cost of the gas canisters he uses to cook also jumped to $22 from $16.
“You bustle around month after month and by the end of it, there’s simply nothing left,” the food stall owner told the Times.
While other dietary staples might be affordable in China — such as pork, which saw its price plummet recently — when it comes to eggs, it’s unclear when the price surge will crack.
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
