Prices of chicken surged to the highest level in three decades, industry data showed Friday, as large numbers of birds were culled following the nationwide outbreak of avian influenza late last year.

South Korea has culled more than 33 million poultry since the first reported case last November, more than double the previous record of 13.96 million chickens destroyed in 2014.

The producer prices rose 59.2 percent to 2,690 won ($2.3) per kilogram as of Monday from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Broiler Council. The prices are the highest since 1987, when the council was founded.

Consumer prices of chicken, meanwhile, reached 5,710 won per kilogram at major retailers Thursday, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, according to figures by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.

It will take about six months for the stabilization of chicken prices, a council official said, noting the time it takes for chicken farms to have their eggs hatched and raise the bird for the market.

About half of the country's 1,500 chicken farms have yet to secure chicks to raise as they were banned from doing so by quarantine authorities over concerns of the bird flu spreading. (Yonhap)