According to TheNews.pl, meat prices are also on the rise, although fruit and vegetables are slightly cheaper than a year ago.

The vast increase in the price of eggs is principally due to new regulations enforced by the EU that compel farmers to provide larger, more comfortable cages for hens.

“The situation should calm down after the holidays,” Krystyna Swietlik of the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics told the Rzeczpospolita daily.

Eggs are a central part of the Easter Breakfast that Poles eat on Easter Sunday.

Painted eggs are also included in a basket of food stuffs, brought to church on the Saturday for blessing by the priest.

However, the price of meat is steadily on the rise.

In 2011, the prices for pork and beef rose by ten percent. Swietlik predicts that by December 2012, the costs will have grown by a further 4-5 per cent for pork, and 5-6 per cent for beef, with a short-term rise over Easter as well.

Prices for fish, oil and cheese may also rise by the end of the year, aside from the Easter bump.

Meanwhile, the slight drop in the cost of fruit and and vegetables may also be echoed in sweets and sugar.