Tracking Antibiotic Use in Europe

Despite a decrease observed over the last twenty years, the consumption of antibiotics still remains too high in several countries in Europe, as revealed by the latest report from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Romanians (25.7 defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day in 2021), Cypriots (25.0), Bulgarians (24.4 ) and Greeks (23.5) are the largest consumers of antibiotics in the European Economic Area, according to this data. As the following infographic shows, such consumption levels are significantly higher than the European average (16.4). The lowest values in the study were reported in the Netherlands and Austria, where the defined daily intake was between 8 and 9 DDD per 1,000 inhabitants in 2021.

The overuse (as well as misuse) of antibiotics has increased levels of antibiotic resistance, i.e. the emergence and persistence of bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics. According to another study recently published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, infections caused by these "superbugs" are responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 Europeans each year.