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Antibiotic use in the Spanish swine industry increased by 11.6% in 2025 compared to the previous year, reaching 549.9 mg/kg of biomass, according to the National Report on Antibiotic Use in Pigs 2020–2025, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) based on data recorded in PRESVET.
This marks the second consecutive annual increase, after consumption reached its lowest level for the period under review in 2023, at 455.1 mg/kg. However, consumption adjusted for swine biomass has fallen by 40.2% compared to 2020, when it stood at 919 mg/kg.
In absolute terms, 1,184.05 metric tons of active ingredient were consumed in 2025, an increase of 11.4% compared to 2024, but a decrease of 42.4% from the 2,054.16 metric tons recorded in 2020.
Finishers accounted for 48.4% of total antibiotic use in 2025, followed by farrow-to-finish operations (26.1%) and nurseries (20.3%). These three categories together accounted for 94.8% of total use.
In terms of routes of administration, drinking water remained the primary route, accounting for 74.8% of consumption, followed by medicated feed (16.2%) and parenteral administration (7.2%). Among the antibiotic classes, aminopenicillins (35%) and tetracyclines (23.6%) stood out. According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) classification, Category D antibiotics accounted for 69.7% of consumption, Category C antibiotics for 28.7%, and Category B antibiotics for 1.6%.
The report also analyzes the purpose of the prescriptions reported in 2025. Therapeutic treatments accounted for 85.7% of prescriptions and 81.1% of the volume consumed, while metaphylactic treatments accounted for 14.15% of prescriptions and 18.9% of consumption. Prophylactic treatments accounted for a residual share.
With regard to the production structure, farms belonging to integrated companies accounted for 80% of total antibiotic use in swine in 2025, compared with 78% in 2020. Their share among the farms that reported data to PRESVET rose from 49.3% to 54.8% during the same period.
The data in the report comes from PRESVET and the General Registry of Livestock Farms (REGA). In 2025, a total of 24,147 pig farms reported prescriptions to the system, accounting for 53.2% of those registered in REGA.
October 2026/ PRESVET-MAPA/ Spain.
https://www.mapa.gob.es/
