IN Brief:
- EU farm antibiotic sales fell 51% between 2011 and 2022 but increased again in 2023 and 2024.
- Cyprus, Spain, and Poland remain among Europe’s highest users of farm antibiotics.
- AMR pressure is likely to sharpen scrutiny of livestock systems, supplier assurance, and meat-processing controls.
Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics has warned that antibiotic overuse in European farming is contributing to antimicrobial resistance, with recent reductions in farm antibiotic sales beginning to stall.
The warning follows a gathering of scientists, veterinarians, policymakers, and campaign groups in Nicosia, Cyprus, focused on antimicrobial resistance in European farming. Cyprus remains one of the highest users of antibiotics in the EU, with 85% of antibiotic supplies going to farm animals, compared with an EU average of 62%.
EU farm antibiotic sales fell by 51% between 2011 and 2022, but sales increased again in 2023 and 2024. Cyprus, Spain, and Poland remain among the highest users. The figures have sharpened concern that progress made over the previous decade could slow unless livestock systems reduce the production conditions that drive routine or preventative antimicrobial use.
Coílín Nunan, policy and science manager at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, highlighted the scale of the wider AMR threat. A Lancet analysis estimated that antimicrobial resistance was directly responsible for 1.1m deaths globally in 2021, with a further 4.7m deaths associated with resistance. By 2050, those figures are projected to rise to 1.9m direct deaths and 8.2m associated deaths.
The issue is already visible in food-producing animals. In Cyprus, 69% of E. coli cases in pigs are multi-resistant, the highest rate in the EU. In Norway, where livestock systems operate with comparatively higher welfare standards and lower antibiotic reliance, the figure is 3%.
Experts at the event pointed to intensive systems where antibiotics may be used to offset production conditions that increase disease pressure, including high stocking densities, early weaning, chronic stress, and restricted natural behaviour. Antimicrobial stewardship is therefore tied closely to husbandry, housing, welfare, and biosecurity.
Meat supply chains are already under closer scrutiny from retailers, foodservice operators, and export customers seeking more detailed assurance around antibiotic use, animal welfare, and production standards. As AMR becomes more closely linked to food policy, sourcing systems will need stronger evidence that controls extend beyond minimum legal compliance.
Traditional food safety systems focus heavily on pathogen control at slaughter, processing, chilling, and distribution. AMR adds a different risk layer because resistant organisms and resistance genes can move through animal, environmental, and human health pathways. Control therefore begins before animals enter processing, with farm-level conditions, veterinary protocols, and supplier assurance.
The commercial effects are likely to differ across production regions. Lower-antibiotic systems may gain stronger assurance value, while supply chains dependent on regions with high antimicrobial use could face tougher audits, stricter sourcing policies, and more questions from customers.
Antibiotic reduction cannot mean withholding treatment from animals that need it. The focus is moving toward production systems that reduce disease pressure in the first place, with veterinary use targeted to treatment rather than routine compensation for avoidable health risks.
