Are eggs in Switzerland the most expensive in the world?
A new international survey comparing the price of eggs ranks Switzerland in the first place. But does the country really merit the top spot in this category?
The study, by Global Product Prices (GPP), which compares the cost of goods and services around the world, shows that Switzerland has the most expensive eggs of 91 countries included in the survey.
Dozen eggs cost the equivalent of $6.73 here, which converts into 6.18 francs.
But is this calculation correct?
A closer analysis indicates various nuances.
Firstly, eggs in Swiss supermarkets are typically sold in packs of four, six or 10, so the GPP must have extrapolated the price for the purposes of its study.
Also, it is not clear which egg / price combo it used for the study — not only in Switzerland, but elsewhere as well.
That’s because prices vary based on the eggs’ origin (domestic or imported), and whether they are organic or not.
As an example, looking just at Coop (which is typically more expensive overall than Migros, Aldi and Lidl) prices differ significantly between the most expensive (Swiss, organic), which sell for 84 cents / piece in a package of 10, and the cheapest (imported, ‘Prix Garantie’ label) — 26 cents / piece for 15 eggs.
There are other variables at play as well.
For instance, merely saying that the price of eggs in Switzerland is higher than in the other 90 countries surveyed, doesn’t take into account the fact that wages here are higher (and in some cases, much higher) than in all the other countries surveyed by GPP.
So if we look at the prices from that perspective, and consider the purchasing power parity, then eggs in Switzerland are cheaper (and often more affordable) than elsewhere.
All these variables prove that we really can’t put all the eggs in one basket.
What we know for sure is that eggs have become more expensive everywhere, not just in Switzerland, where they increased in price by 14 percent when compared to 2021.
There are several reasons for this global trend, including the rise in the price of cereals, the main food for laying hens — the hike which is linked to the crisis in Ukraine, one of the largest exporters of corn and wheat in the world.
READ MORE: Cost of living: The things in Switzerland that are getting more and more expensive
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The study, by Global Product Prices (GPP), which compares the cost of goods and services around the world, shows that Switzerland has the most expensive eggs of 91 countries included in the survey.
Dozen eggs cost the equivalent of $6.73 here, which converts into 6.18 francs.
But is this calculation correct?
A closer analysis indicates various nuances.
Firstly, eggs in Swiss supermarkets are typically sold in packs of four, six or 10, so the GPP must have extrapolated the price for the purposes of its study.
Also, it is not clear which egg / price combo it used for the study — not only in Switzerland, but elsewhere as well.
That’s because prices vary based on the eggs’ origin (domestic or imported), and whether they are organic or not.
As an example, looking just at Coop (which is typically more expensive overall than Migros, Aldi and Lidl) prices differ significantly between the most expensive (Swiss, organic), which sell for 84 cents / piece in a package of 10, and the cheapest (imported, ‘Prix Garantie’ label) — 26 cents / piece for 15 eggs.
There are other variables at play as well.
For instance, merely saying that the price of eggs in Switzerland is higher than in the other 90 countries surveyed, doesn’t take into account the fact that wages here are higher (and in some cases, much higher) than in all the other countries surveyed by GPP.
So if we look at the prices from that perspective, and consider the purchasing power parity, then eggs in Switzerland are cheaper (and often more affordable) than elsewhere.
All these variables prove that we really can’t put all the eggs in one basket.
What we know for sure is that eggs have become more expensive everywhere, not just in Switzerland, where they increased in price by 14 percent when compared to 2021.
There are several reasons for this global trend, including the rise in the price of cereals, the main food for laying hens — the hike which is linked to the crisis in Ukraine, one of the largest exporters of corn and wheat in the world.
READ MORE: Cost of living: The things in Switzerland that are getting more and more expensive
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