Scrambled egg

Let's take a look at the central message this chart is aiming to convey: "U.S. egg prices hit a 10-year high in 2025 after avian flu killed 30 million egg-laying birds." (The original is found on Visual Capitalist.)

Using the Trifecta Checkup framework (link), we ask how the data are aligned with this question. What do the data say?

The data give the average egg prices in 41 countries, sorted from highest to lowest, and arranged in a clockwise manner starting from the top.

The dataset does not address the question posed by the central message.

• With no history, it cannot show that U.S. egg prices is at a 10-year high.
• With no explanatory variables, it cannot say why egg prices have increased in 2025.
• Without context, it cannot address the avian flu.
• The U.S. does not even stand out.
• It also does not show the extreme magnitude of the recent increase in egg price in the U.S.

Because of this mismatch, the graphic fails to deliver the intended message.

Notably, the dataset introduces the country dimension, which is unrelated to the central message, but nevertheless interesting. Yet the question of interest isn't the point-in-time comparison. I'd like to know if egg price inflation is a global trend, or an American exclusive. At some point, the inflation will flatten out, although the price of eggs would probably not return to the pre-inflation level. An international comparison across time would bring this insight out clearly.

***

Before ending, we'll make a quick stop at the Visual corner of the Trifecta Checkup. Since the designer uses an ellipse to represent the egg, the bars sticking out of the ellipse are somewhat distorted. Do the bar lengths encode the data accurately?

I looked at Brazil vs Italy. The price in Italy $3.97 is basically twice that in Brazil $1.99. But the length of BRA bar is 40% that of the ITA bar.

Italy and Belgium, shown side by side, have the same egg price to the second decimal place. The bar lengths are not the same.

This observation suggests that the chart fails my self-sufficiency test. If the entire dataset were not printed on the chart, the reader can't interpret the bars.

Comments

[jlguillaume]

In relation with the self-sufficiency test, did you notice the light elliptic lines at $2, $4, $6? It they were more visible and labeled, the interpretation might be easier.