Eggs are so expensive that people are literally smuggling them across the border

Close up of a woman's hands holding a box of six eggs (Credit: d3sign via Getty Images)

There’s a reason 81% of Americans have been paying attention to the price of eggs at their local grocery store: Even as U.S. inflation overall appears to be slowing down, eggs just keep getting more and more expensive, and some people are shopping at cheaper supermarkets. In some cases, they’re even heading over to another country.

A carton of a dozen eggs in the U.S. cost on average $4.25 in December, a 137% increase over the year prior. And the price of eggs increased 11.1% in December compared with the month before. When prices rise like that, shoppers tend to look for alternatives. So it’s no surprise that the number of eggs intercepted at the U.S.-Mexico border has soared in recent months.