Antibiotics in animal husbandry: Use falls slightly

Trends in Antibiotic Use and Treatment Frequency

In total, antibiotic consumption of around 494 tonnes was recorded across all animal categories in 2025. This represents a slight decrease of around 3 per cent compared with the previous year. The consumption quantities of substances of particular importance to human medicine, as recorded for cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys, have been significantly reduced since the introduction of the antibiotic minimisation scheme – from over 66 tonnes in 2014 in animals raised for meat production only to 29 tonnes in 2025 across all livestock. The decline is mainly attributable to the reduction in the use of the antibiotic colistin. 

The frequency of treatment fell for almost all of the livestock categories newly included in 2023, with particularly sharp declines among laying hens (−55 per cent) and dairy cows (−7 per cent). In contrast, the frequency of treatment mostly increased among animals raised for meat production, most notably among chickens raised for meat production (+6 per cent) and fattening turkeys (+5 per cent). 

Trends in antibiotic resistance

The trend in the development of resistance in E. coli from pigs raised for meat production, as well as from calves raised for meat production and young cattle, is less positive than it was two years ago. In the short term, when comparing 2025 with 2023, resistance rates in E. coli from pigs raised for meat production at slaughter to sulphamethoxazole and trimethoprim increased significantly. The long-term trends for the period from 2015 to 2025 show only a significant decrease in resistance E. coli from fattening pigs to a single substance, namely tetracycline. At the same time, there was a significant increase in resistance to the macrolide azithromycin. 

A short-term significant increase in resistance rates to the substances sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim was also observed in calves raised for meat production and young cattle. In the long term, two statistically significant decreases in resistance rates (to nalidixic acid and azithromycin) are offset by three increases (to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline). In view of the increasing use of antibiotics in chickens raised for meat production and turkeys, further increases in E. coli resistance are also to be expected in these livestock sectors.

The legal basis for this report is the Veterinary Medicines Act (TAMG). This stipulates that the use of antibiotics on farms rearing cattle, pigs, chickens or turkeys must be documented and communicated to the competent state authorities. The BfR receives this data in pseudonymised form. Until 2022, the reporting obligation applied only to the use of antibiotics in animals raised for meat production. Since 1 January 2023, new rules have applied to the recording of antibiotic use. These included adjustments to the categories of use, a new category for antibiotic monitoring, the transfer of the reporting obligation regarding antibiotic use from animal keepers to the treating vets, and the introduction of a weighting factor for antibiotic substances of particular importance to human medicine.