Antibiotic usage by surveillance category in Germany

Germany: Antibiotic usage by surveillance category was 8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day
Change on year
up 24.2%
World rank
38th
of 46 countries
All-time high
8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day
in 2023
All-time low
5.45 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day
in 2021
Years of data
8
2016–2023

Antibiotic usage by surveillance category in Germany, 2016–2023

024682016201920232016: 6.7 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2017: 6.9 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2018: 6.7 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2019: 6.9 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2020: 5.8 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2021: 5.5 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2022: 6.6 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day2023: 8.2 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day

Source: WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day.

Analysis

Germany recorded 8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day for antibiotic usage by surveillance category in 2023. That is the highest value across all 8 years on record.

That represents a change of up 24.2% on the previous year and up 21.9% over ten years.

Germany ranks 38th of 46 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 6.81 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day 6.66 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day 6.92 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day 4
2020s 6.53 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day 5.45 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day 8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day 4

Countries ranked near Germany

  1. 35 Nepal 8.73 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day compare
  2. 36 Armenia 8.7 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day compare
  3. 37 Estonia 8.28 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day compare
  4. 39 Switzerland 7.57 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day compare
  5. 40 Hungary 7.41 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day compare
  6. 41 Austria 7.4 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day compare

See the full ranking of 46 places →

More reference data data for Germany

All data for Germany →

Frequently asked questions

What is antibiotic usage by surveillance category in Germany?
Antibiotic usage by surveillance category in Germany was 8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day in 2023, according to WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest antibiotic usage by surveillance category recorded in Germany?
The highest recorded value was 8.22 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day in 2023.
What is the lowest antibiotic usage by surveillance category recorded in Germany?
The lowest recorded value was 5.45 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day in 2021.
How does Germany rank for antibiotic usage by surveillance category?
Germany ranks 38th out of 46 countries with data for 2023.
Is antibiotic usage by surveillance category rising or falling in Germany?
Over the last ten years it is up 21.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Germany data come from?
The figures come from WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Antibiotic usage by surveillance category. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 8 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Antibiotic usage by surveillance category
Unit
defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day
Source
WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
46 places, 344 data points, 2016–2023
Last refreshed

Total defined daily doses of AWaRe category: Access used per 1000 inhabitants per day. Access antibiotics have activity against a wide range of common pathogens and show lower resistance potential than antibiotics in the other groups.