China can't kick its egg addiction even as prices soar nearly 45% — some blame Trump, though greedy farmers also made mistakes

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.

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.”

So, why has the price of eggs skyrocketed in China?

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.