Central Bank explains chicken price continues to rise because demand exceeds production

After the month of December, the month of highest demand for chicken, the price of this meat continued to rise in January, being one of the products with the highest increase recorded in the first month of this year according to the report on the monthly variation of the consumer price index (CPI) published by the Central Bank.

According to the Central Bank, the variation in the CPI in January 2026 is mainly explained by the increases recorded in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages group, which contributed 45.68% of the inflation observed in the aforementioned month.

Within this group, the increase in the price of fresh chicken stands out in particular, an item of high weighting in the family basket, which registered a level of demand for the product above the available production of the period.

However, analysts expect a regularization of the supply of the aforementioned item in the short term.

The entity reported that the consumer price index registered a monthly variation of 0.40% in January 2026.

Regarding year-on-year core inflation, it stood at 4.89%, remaining within the target set by the Central Bank of 4.0% ± 1.0%.