The European Union’s medicinal and pharmaceutical sector is sitting on a record high trade surplus of €193.6 billion, with data indicating that exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products totaled €313.4 billion during 2024 - an increase of 13.5% compared with 2023.
At the same time imports rose to €119.7 billion, representing a 0.5% increase over the same period.
The data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, shows that the main destination for EU exports of pharmaceutical and medicinal products in 2024 was the US, accounting for 38.2%, or €119.8 billion of trade for the sector. Exports to Switzerland and the UK accounted for €51.3 billion (16.4%), and €18.2 billion (5.8%) respectively.
However, that data also showed that most of the imports into the EU came from the US, accounting for €45.9 billion (38.3%), followed by Switzerland, €39.1 billion (32.6%) and the UK, €8.7 billion (7.3%).
The EU’s largest exporter to countries outside the bloc was Germany, exporting €67.9 million worth of pharmaceutical and medicinal products. This is followed by Ireland and Belgium, exporting €56.6 billion and €41.4 billion of pharmaceutical and medicinal products respectively.
Germany was also the largest importer from countries outside of the EU, spending €23.0 billion, followed by Belgium, €21.3 billion, and the Netherlands spending €14.7 billion.
Looking across the decade, Eurostat data shows that EU exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products have increased every year since 2014 - with the exception of 2023.
With exports increasing more than imports, the trade surplus increased from €58 billion in 2014 to a record high of €193.6 billion in 2024. Between 2014 and 2024, imports grew by 74% while exports grew by 148%.
While such a trade surplus would be generally be considered a good thing by the EU it comes at a difficult time with the US administration keen to reduce trade deficits and likely to target pharmaceuticals imports next.
A survey conducted by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) of its members identified that up to 85% of capital expenditure investment and 50% of R&D expenditure was at risk of moving to the US if policy interventions, including adoption of a regulatory framework conducive to innovation, were not put in place.
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