Singapore Chicken Egg Prices Climbed to Their Highest Level in Over Ten Years in Late 2022

According to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics, the average retail price of hen eggs in Singapore in November 2022 reached its highest level since at least 2010, at SGD 3.25/ten pieces. This represents a 3.8% increase month-over-month and a 26% increase year-over-year. Both represented the fastest growth pace since last Spring.

Source: Tridge and Singapore Department of Statistics

One of the reasons behind the sharp MoM increase in prices is the ongoing shortage of eggs in Malaysia, from which imports are a considerable part of Singapore’s egg supply. In fact, in December, the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security issued a statement mentioning it had opened the window for temporary imports of chicken eggs. The shortage has reportedly been caused by a decline in supply due to higher input costs.

Adding further bullish pressure to egg prices globally is an epidemic of avian influenza which has hit production in the US, Europe, and Asia. Production cuts and positive disease testing have continued in early 2023, which will continue to pressure prices higher.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA), a Singaporean government entity that oversees the country's food security, mentioned in a December 2022 press release that around 70% of Singapore's chicken egg supply comes from imports, while the remaining 30% comes from local production.

The entity mentioned that the country is looking to further diversify the origin of its egg supply, recently accrediting Brunei as a newly approved origin for imports of this product. In the same statement, it also mentioned that it is working on the development of a fourth local farm, which, “when fully operational, (the) local egg farms will meet about 50 percent of Singapore's egg demand". The intention of further diversification is to avoid the severity of food disruptions caused, as enumerated by the SDA, by climate change, diseases, and geopolitical tensions. Singapore currently imports over 90% of its total food supply.

According to data from ITC, in 2021, Singapore imported the bulk of its domestic fowl eggs from Malaysia (74%), followed by Poland (11%) and Thailand (6%). According to the same source, from January to September 2022, Singapore imported domestic fowl eggs with a total value of $140 million, of which 72% came from Malaysia, 12% from Poland, 6% from Thailand, and 5% from the Ukraine. The remaining 5% came from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and several other countries in Europe.