EU exports of medicines and pharmaceutical products grow by 13.5 per cent in 2024

The pharmaceutical sector in the European Union is showing unprecedented performance. According to the latest Eurostat data, exports of medical and pharmaceutical products outside the EU in 2024 increased by 13.5% compared to 2023 and totalled €313.4 billion. Against a modest rise in imports (just +0.5%, to €119.7 billion), the trade balance has achieved a record surplus of €193.6 billion - the economic equivalent of injecting net profit into the EU vein.

These countries not only dominate shipments outside the union, but also import heavily themselves: Germany and Belgium purchased €23bn and €21.3bn worth of pharmaceutical goods respectively.

The United States remains the most important trading partner, receiving 38.2% of all EU exports, worth €119.8bn, followed by Switzerland (€51.3bn, 16.4%) and the UK (€18.2bn, 5.8%).

Interestingly, in terms of imports from outside the EU, the US and Switzerland are again in the lead, accounting for 38.3% and 32.6% of supplies respectively. Thus, the EU-US-Switzerland pharmaceutical axis forms the core of the global exchange of life-saving drugs.

The report reminds us of an important methodological caveat: the so-called Rotterdam effect, in which goods transiting through Belgian and Dutch ports are counted as exports of these countries in the statistics, despite their actual origin from other EU countries. This may artificially increase the share of Belgium and the Netherlands in the structure of exports and imports.

The surplus of almost €200 billion is testament not only to the strength of the sector, but also to its strategic importance. In a context of geopolitical turbulence and growing dependence on sustainable supply chains, pharmaceutical exports have become the EU's 'confidence currency' in the global arena.