LAHORE: Chicken prices in the Punjab capital hit an all-time high as one kg retail rate of the white meat crossed Rs700 mark, while in the federal capital it reached Rs880 on Sunday.

As per official price list, the price of broiler chicken meat has been fixed at Rs595 per kg. However, market reports show that the white meat is being sold for as high as Rs730 in Tollinton Market and between Rs680 and Rs700 in different other markets of the city.

The chicken meat was being sold for Rs500 a few days ago.

In Islamabad, chicken’s price shot up Rs430 per kg as compared to last week. The chicken meat price increased from Rs450 to Rs880 in a week’s time. Live chicken price per kg also increased from Rs285 to Rs460 in a week.

Karachi has also been affected by the rising prices of chicken. Despite the official rate being set at Rs635 per kg by the Karachi commissioner, one kilogram of meat is being sold for around Rs700.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not spared either. In Peshawar, chicken prices increased by Rs70 in a week. Though lower than Islamabad and Lahore, the price in Peshawar has reached Rs510 per kg on the weekend.

The surge is said to be due to a huge surge in demand during the cold season. However, a poultry farmer attributes the hike in white meat prices to an extraordinary increase in the chick prices by hatcheries. He claims that he is getting chicks at a rate of Rs230 per unit, while the same was available under Rs100 per unit a couple of weeks ago.

Both consumers and end-sellers are perturbed at the increasing trend in chicken meat prices as they say that it is depriving the masses of the cheapest source of protein.

Muhammad Sultan, a chicken meat seller in Mughalpura neighbourhood, said high prices were also impacting his sales as he used to sell over 100 kgs of chicken meat daily during normal days, while on Sundays the sale would reach 150 kgs.

However, he said that he could sell only 45 kgs of meat today because of the higher prices.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025