Signal Spain among Europe's largest antibiotic consumers, though 2023 use was below 2016

Summary

The report says Spain is one of the largest consumers of antibiotics on the European continent. A chart compares daily doses of systemic antibacterials per 1,000 inhabitants in 2023 using OECD data. Spain's use began to fall before the pandemic and rebounded in the following years, yet the 2023 level was below that of 2016, placing Spain among the countries that have cut use the most. Even so, high consumption still rests on practices such as self-medication, unnecessary prescriptions, stopping treatment early and heavy use in livestock. The report sees these practices as revealing insufficient public awareness that speeds up the loss of effectiveness of essential medicines. Resistance-related deaths in Spain reached 24,000 in 2023.