Use of antibiotics in Austria / Antibiotikaeinsatz in Österreich

In 2015, 119.2 t of active ingredients of antibiotics were used in Austria in human medicine (70.4 t; 59.1%), for food animals (48.8 t; 40.9%) and in plant production (0.002 t; < 0.1%). During the last five years, consumption of antibiotics increased in human medicine by 3.8% (2011: 67.8 t; 2015: 70.4 t). In hospitals, it increased by 17.3%, from 19.7 t in 2011 to 23.1 t active ingredients in 2015. In the community, measured in kg active ingredient, it increased by 0.3% from 2011 to 2015. Consumption in defined daily dose (DDD) per 100,000 inhabitants per year decreased by 3.6%. Our numbers for the community (2015: 17.0 DDD) contradict AURES reports and a recent ECDC report, which claim a consumption of 14.0 DDD/1000 inhabitants per day in primary care in Austria, based on the social insurance company’s sales data. Declining pharmacy sales prices due to an increase in market shares for cheap generic drugs as well as increase in deductibles for insured people falsely suggest low consumption. In food animals, the antibiotic consumption decreased by 8.7%, from 53.4 t to 48.8 t. In plant production, the annual usage fluctuated considerably and decreased by 95.3%, from 47.2 kg in 2010 to 2.2 kg in 2015.