Export of drugs outside the EU. Eurostat: -3.5% in 2023, imports +6%. Germany and Belgium top the rankings, to and from the USA and Switzerland. Italy exports for 25 billion euros

The main destination of non-EU exports of medicines and pharmaceutical products in 2023 was the United States, accounting for a third (33.2%; 92 billion euros) of these exports, followed by Switzerland (15.5%; 43 billion euros) and from China (7.7%; 21 billion euros). Imports of these products into the EU came mainly from the United States, which accounted for 39.5% of all EU imports of these products, then from Switzerland (32.3%) and the United Kingdom (6.9%)

29 APR – In 2023, exports of medicines and pharmaceutical products from the European Union to countries outside the EU decreased by 3.5% compared to 2022. Conversely, imports increased by 6.1%. These are the Eurostat data released today.

In 2023, exports reached 277 billion euros, while imports stood at 119 billion euros. As a result, the EU’s trade surplus in medicines and pharmaceuticals amounted to €158 billion, marking the second highest figure on record, following a peak in 2022 of €174 billion. In 2023, the Germany was the EU’s largest non-EU exporter (62 billion euros), followed by Belgium (44 billion euros) and Ireland (37 billion euros), all three recording decreases compared to 2022. As regards Italy, the value of non-EU exports is equal to 25.5 billion euros in 2023, compared to 21.4 in 2022 and 13.2 in 2021.
The largest non-EU importers of medicines and pharmaceutical products were the Belgium (26 billion euros), followed by Germany (20 billion euros) and come on Netherlands (16 billion euros). The main destination of non-EU exports of medicines and pharmaceutical products in 2023 were United Stateswhich represent a third (33.2%; 92 billion euros) of these exports, followed by Swiss (15.5%; 43 billion euros) and from China (7.7%; 21 billion euros). Imports of these products into the EU mainly came from United Stateswhich represented 39.5% of all EU imports of these products, then from Swiss (32.3%) and from United Kingdom (6.9%).