Summary
This paper by Van Boeckel et al., published in PNAS in 2015, provides a global-scale quantitative assessment of antimicrobial use in food-producing animals, drawing on data from 228 countries. The authors estimate that global antimicrobial consumption in livestock was approximately 63,151 tonnes in 2010 and project this could rise by 67% by 2030, driven primarily by growth in middle-income countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). The study highlights the relationship between intensifying livestock production and increased antimicrobial use, with implications for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a global public health concern.
UK applicability
Whilst the study is global in scope, its findings are directly relevant to UK and EU policy debates on restricting prophylactic and growth-promoting antibiotic use in livestock. The UK has pursued progressive reductions in veterinary antibiotic use through the RUMA Alliance targets, and this paper provides important comparative context for benchmarking UK progress against global trends.
Key measures
Antimicrobial consumption (mg/kg of animal biomass); projected growth rates by country and region; livestock biomass estimates; country-level use intensity rankings
Outcomes reported
The study estimated and projected global antimicrobial consumption in food-producing animals across regions and livestock sectors, identifying countries and production systems with the highest use intensity. It modelled likely growth in consumption to 2030 under business-as-usual scenarios.
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