<Anchor> It's
friendly economy time. Today (6th), I will be with reporter Kim Hye-min. I think we gave it a lot at the beginning of this year, but the price of eggs has gone up a lot. Even today, it hasn't fallen yet. How much do you do these days?
<Reporter> It's
been on the rise a lot these days, but I had bibimbap at a restaurant a while ago, but there were no eggs here.
Watching this made me realize that eggs are still expensive.
Even if you just search online marts that are used by many, it was difficult to find 30 eggs for less than 10,000 won.
There were 6,000 won units, but these were white eggs imported from the US by the government, and the quantity that could be purchased per person was limited.
In the livestock and fishery price index of Statistics Korea, eggs rose 38.9% in the first half of this year. This is the biggest increase since 2017, that is, in four years.
The biggest reason egg prices continue to rise is because of AI. Since November of last year, more than 16 million laying hens, which are chickens that lay eggs, have been disposed of due to AI.
This is 24% of the total, and since April of this year, the AI has calmed down, but it has not yet been replenished as much as the number of chickens disposed of.
In addition, as the chicks are large, it takes at least 5 months to lay eggs, and the price of chicks itself has risen a lot.
<Anchor>
Reporter Kim, by the way, not only eggs, but other items are also higher now?
<Reporter>
First, let's look at the whole thing. In the first half of this year, the price index for livestock and fishery products increased by 12.6% compared to last year.
If we compare again based on the first half of the year, it is the highest level in 30 years since 1991.
The item that rose the most was 'Green onion', which surged 156.6%. It is often used to make kimchi and fruits such as apples, pears, and peaches. Garlic and red pepper powder also went up a lot.
The government has been importing eggs and fruits from abroad since the beginning of this year to lower prices. In fact, when I was talking about prices in March last year, I asked a government official, so the price is highly likely to drop soon as imports increase. I gave
In fact, as a result, there is no clear stability yet.
<Anchor>
Reporter Kim summarized it, so it really went up a lot. It went up by more than double digits. However, as the government said before, if you import a lot, the price will drop. Is there any reason why it still doesn't fall?
<Reporter>
First of all, the government is setting the price of shopping carts in two ways.
One is to unpack the stockpiled items. Recently, stockpile marine products such as pollock, mackerel and squid have been supplied to the market.
The other is that the price at which domestic consumers purchase food is directly lowering itself, but there is a limit in bringing down rising prices because the government's supply is insignificant to satisfy the demand of the entire nation.
Moreover, it is difficult to catch this because the cause of inflation itself is a global trend. The weather conditions in many countries were not good due to the long rainy season, frequent typhoons, and cold waves.
The sluggish crop was the main reason for the price increase.
Also, the cultivated area is decreasing. The fact that raw material prices rose and the demand for home-cooked meals increased significantly as the COVID-19 continued for a long time also had an impact.
<Anchor>
Reporter Kim, then when will the price level be stable?
<Reporter>
Actually, this is what you are most curious about. The government predicts that food prices will stabilize somewhat in the second half of the year.
Inflation was particularly low last year due to COVID-19, and the base effect on this is diminishing.
Also, as the harvest season of crops arrives in the fall, the price will stabilize. However, at the beginning of this year, the government said that prices would stabilize soon, but it has not been caught yet.
Therefore, it is difficult to predict the price of agricultural and fishery products. This is because livestock production largely depends on livestock diseases and agricultural products, depending on weather conditions, so it is very difficult to preemptively deal with them.
Also, there will be Chuseok in two months, and demand will increase at this time, which may be a factor in raising prices.
Recently, President Moon Jae-in also ordered that "Chuseok prices are very important, and carefully look at countermeasures in advance." I hope that shopping cart prices will drop even a little during this Chuseok holiday, so you can shop with a light mind.