Germany is the largest extra-EU exporter of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, with €67.9 billion of exports recorded in 2024, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
Ireland, with €56.6 billion worth of extra-EU exports, and Belgium, with €41.4 billion of exports, rank second and third.
In 2024, the EU exported €313.4 billion worth of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, which was a 13.5% increase on the previous year.
Imports see marginal increase
Imports, meanwhile, saw an increase of 0.5% last year, totalling €119.7 billion. As a result, the EU’s trade surplus in medicinal and pharmaceutical products stood at €193.6 billion last year, a new record high.
Germany was the biggest extra-EU importer (€23.0 billion), followed by Belgium (€21.3 billion) and the Netherlands (€14.7 billion).
USA the main destination
The main destination for extra-EU exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products last year was the United States, which accounted for 38.2% of all exports outside the EU, or €119.8 billion, Eurostat‘s data showed.
This was followed by Switzerland (16.4%; €51.3 billion) and the United Kingdom (5.8%; €18.2 billion).
In addition, most medicinal and pharmaceutical products imported in the EU came from the US (38.3%; €45.9 billion), again followed by Switzerland and the UK (32.6% and 7.3%, respectively). Read more here.
