Health experts have urged Europe to reduce its reliance on antibiotics amid the growing threat of drug resistance, yet in some countries these medicines are used far more frequently than in others.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when pathogens such as bacteria or viruses evolve the ability to evade existing drugs, making infections harder to treat. Excessive use of antibiotics accelerates the development of AMR, which leads to more than 35,000 deaths each year across the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

In 2023, the EU Council called on member states to cut antibiotic use and ensure that at least 65 percent of antibiotics prescribed are first-line drugs.

However, none of these targets has been met, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned last month.

On average across the EU in 2024, there were 20.3 defined daily doses of antibiotics per 1,000 inhabitants. This is 2 percent higher than the 2019 baseline recorded before the pandemic and well above the EU’s target of 15.9 daily doses by 2030.

Antibiotic consumption also varies widely across Europe. Last year, daily doses ranged from 9.8 in the Netherlands to 29.9 in Greece.

One reason is that it takes time for official public health guidelines to reach hospitals, doctors, clinics, and patients, and some countries are further along in this process than others, says Evelyne Jouvin-Marche, who coordinates scientific research on antibiotic resistance at Inserm, France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research.

“Implementation is not progressing at the same pace in all countries,” she told Euronews.

In many countries, trends are moving in the wrong direction. Since 2020, antibiotic consumption has increased in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain, according to ECDC data.

“Weak progress toward achieving the EU’s antimicrobial consumption targets… highlights the need to step up efforts to tackle unjustified and inappropriate use of antimicrobials at all levels of healthcare,” the agency said in a November report.

The ECDC added that countries should update diagnostic practices in light of antibiotic overuse and take more steps to prevent and control infections.

Efforts to combat AMR are further complicated by the risk of cross-border spread of drug-resistant pathogens and by Europe’s aging population, which leaves more people vulnerable to infections.

At the same time, individuals themselves can help fight antibiotic resistance by completing the full prescribed course of treatment for an infection, rather than discarding medications or saving them for later, Jouvin-Marche said.

“You have exactly the amount of antibiotics you need to cure the infection,” she noted.