Share of people getting information on unnecessary use of antibiotics in the EU, 2022
Antibiotics are medications that can kill or hinder the growth of bacteria which cause infection in people and animals. Antibiotic resistance occurs when there is a mutation in the bacteria's genes, however excessive use of antibiotics can also lead to the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In 2022, a survey on antimicrobial resistance revealed that 77 percent of respondents in the EU did not remember receiving any information in the previous 12 months about unnecessary consumption of antibiotics. This statistic displays the share of individuals who received information about not taking antibiotics unnecessarily, for example for a cold or the flu, in the previous 12 months in EU27, as of 2022.