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Comparative Trends in Human and Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption in the European Union, 2019-2024
Telma de Sousa1,2,3, Tiago Bugarim4, Gilberto Igrejas1,2,3,5
1MicroART-Antibiotic Resistance Team, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) mitigation is diverging in the EU. Veterinary medicine achieved significant antimicrobial sales reduction, while human medicine saw increased consumption, highlighting differing strategy effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- One Health Framework
- Global Health Security
- Comparative Medicine
Background:
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global health crisis, necessitating a One Health approach.
- European Union (EU) surveillance data indicates a divergence in AMR mitigation progress between human and animal health sectors.
- Recent data reveals contrasting trends in antimicrobial consumption across human and veterinary medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the effectiveness of AMR mitigation strategies in the EU human and veterinary sectors.
- To analyze recent surveillance data on antimicrobial consumption and sales.
- To identify factors contributing to the divergent trends in AMR control.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) Network data.
- Analysis of European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption and Use of Antimicrobials for Veterinary Medicine (ESAVM) data (2024 reports).
- Comparative analysis of antimicrobial sales and consumption trends, focusing on critically important antimicrobials and key pathogens.
Main Results:
- Veterinary sector achieved a 24.3% structural reduction in antimicrobial sales since 2018.
- Human medicine recorded a 2% increase in overall antimicrobial consumption, missing reduction targets.
- Veterinary medicine significantly reduced critically important antimicrobial use (e.g., polymyxins, third-generation cephalosporins) to 0.24% of sales.
- Companion animals identified as a reservoir for AMR due to intensive use of broad-spectrum oral antimicrobials.
- Human medicine struggles to control resistance in key pathogens like Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli.
Conclusions:
- The veterinary sector's regulatory model, emphasizing binding volume reduction and preventive strategies, proved more effective than human medicine's voluntary stewardship approaches.
- Achieving effective AMR control requires human medicine to adopt structural, rigorous measures similar to those in animal production.
- Divergent AMR trends necessitate a re-evaluation of strategies in human medicine to align with One Health goals.
Keywords:
European Unionantibiotic consumptionantimicrobial resistance (AMR)one healthpublic healthsurveillanceveterinary medicineMore Related Videos
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