2023 Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Highlights Report
Working towards the preservation of effective antimicrobials for humans and animals
Context
The Veterinary Antimicrobial Sales Reporting (VASR) system data provide a comprehensive picture of medically important antimicrobials sold for veterinary use in Canada, supports our overall antimicrobial resistance surveillance program, and promotes stewardship. Antimicrobials have been grouped according to their importance to human medicine. This report reflects our integration, analysis, and interpretation of submitted data. Trends in sales of antimicrobials may differ from trends in actual antimicrobial use for many reasons (e.g., not all antimicrobials sold are used within a calendar year), and data in this report where possible, should be considered along with end-user information on antimicrobial use and resistance. Unless specified, this document describes sales reported by manufacturers and importers, and excludes compounders, to avoid double counting of sales.
For trends across years, it is important to note that the first two years of data collection (2018 and 2019) represented an overlap with the time of regulatory and policy changes implemented by Health Canada to increase oversight and promote the responsible use of antimicrobials in animals.
What's new
For the first time, we are able to adjust sales of antimicrobials for cattle by production type (beef cattle, dairy cattle, and veal calves) using estimates of biomass (number and weight of animals) specific to each group.
Interactive data
The VASR data are available online as Interactive Data Visualizations. These visualizations include additional information and are updated regularly, and therefore may differ from published reports.
Key findings
Information on antimicrobials of importance to human medicine sold for use in animals
Overall, there has been a 12% decrease in the total kilograms (kg) of antimicrobials sold for use in all animals since 2018. When accounting for the number of animals and their weights using an average weight at slaughter or average adult weight (mg/kg biomass), there was a 14% decrease in the quantity of antimicrobials sold for use in animals in this time period. Since 2019, the quantity of antimicrobials sold (after adjusting for biomass) has plateaued (less than 2% change since 2019).
Compared to 2022, overall sales of antimicrobials for all animals decreased by 3% (33,667 kg) in 2023 (Table 1). When we look at production animals (which includes food-producing animals and horses), there was a 3% decrease in the quantity of antimicrobials sold in mg/kg biomass in 2023. For cats and dogs, there was a 6% decrease in the quantity of antimicrobials sold in mg/kg biomass.
| Year | Kilograms | mg/kg biomass |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1,111,339 | 100.8 |
| 2019 | 995,232 | 87.9 |
| 2020 | 1,064,288 | 93.8 |
| 2021 | 1,040,787 | 91.6 |
| 2022 | 1,010,424 | 89.1 |
| 2023 | 976,757 | 86.3 |
|
kg biomass = kilograms biomass, equal to the number of animals multiplied by their standard Canadian average live weight at slaughter or their average adult weight; mg/kg biomass = milligrams per kilogram biomass. 1 kg biomass =1 kg animal |
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Manufacturers reported approximately 89% of the total sales of medically important antimicrobials in 2023, while around 6% of sales were by compounders, and 6% by importers. The percentage of sales by importers increased from the 4% reported in 2022.
Top classes of antimicrobials sold by manufacturers in 2023 were tetracyclines, macrolides, bacitracins, penicillins, and lincosamides. The top antimicrobial classes sold by importers were sulfonamides (72% of total sales by importers) and penicillins (18% of total sales by importers). Antimicrobial classes that had the largest increase in sales (kg) by both manufacturers and importers between 2022 and 2023 were the bacitracins, streptogramins, and amphenicols. Carbapenems were imported for the first time in 2023 for a non-food producing animal, totalling less than 1 kilogram (note there are no approved carbapenem products for use in animals in Canada).
In 2023, the percentage of total sales (in kg) for use in animals by Category of Importance to Human Medicine was:
- Category I (very high importance): less than 1% (similar rank to previous years)
- Category II (high importance): 29% (decreased from 30% in 2022)
- Category III (medium importance): 68% (increased from 67% in 2022)
- Uncategorized Medically Important: 2% (similar rank to previous years)
Between 2022 and 2023, the percent change in the quantity of sales (in kg) was:
- +0.3% for Category I antimicrobials (from 6,688 kg to 6,705 kg)
- -7% for Category II antimicrobials (from 307,696 kg to 287,590 kg)
- -2% for Category III antimicrobials (from 675,240 kg to 661,803 kg)
- -0.7% for Uncategorized Medically Important antimicrobials (from 20,800 kg to 20,659 kg)
In 2023, reporting by compounders represented 6% (an increase of 2% since 2018, and stable since 2021) of the total kilograms of antimicrobials sold. The total kilograms of antimicrobials sold by compounders in 2023 was approximately 60,000 kg (a decrease of ~10,000 kg since 2022). Most antimicrobials sold by compounders were Category II antimicrobials (98% of kg sold). The top classes reported by compounders were diaminopyrimidine-sulfonamide combinations, penicillins, and aminoglycosides. In 2023, 85% of the total kilograms estimated to be sold by compounders were for use in pigs.
Animal species information
Similar to 2022, when measured in kilograms, the bulk of antimicrobials sold were intended for use in pigs (450,008 kg), beef cattle (285,794 kg), and poultry (142,899 kg). After adjusting for biomass, most antimicrobials were sold for use in pigs (134 mg/kg biomass), veal calves (87.0 mg/kg biomass), poultry (67.9 mg/kg biomass), beef cattle (65.7 mg/kg biomass), aquaculture (57.7 mg/kg biomass), and cats and dogs (49.5 mg/kg biomass).
Between 2022 and 2023, the percent change in the quantity of sales was:
- -17% for pigs in both kg and mg/kg biomass
- +3% for beef cattle in kg and +8% in mg/kg biomass
- +44% for poultry in kg and +39% in mg/kg biomass
- -43% for veal calves in both kg and mg/kg biomass
- -11% for dairy cattle in kg and -12% in mg/kg biomass
- -30% for aquaculture in both kg and mg/kg biomass
- +25% for small ruminants in kg and +20% in mg/kg biomass
- -10% for horses in both kg and mg/kg biomass
- -6% for cats and dogs in both kg and mg/kg biomass
Between 2022 and 2023, estimated Category I antimicrobial sales in:
- pigs increased in kg from approximately 340 to 420 and in mg/kg biomass from 0.10 to 0.13
- beef cattle increased in kg from approximately 1,380 to 1,600 and in mg/kg biomass from 0.30 to 0.37
- dairy cattle decreased in kg from approximately 600 to 450 and in mg/kg biomass from 0.8 to 0.6
- aquaculture increased in kg from 0 to less than 1 and in mg/kg biomass from 0 to less than 0.01
- cats and dogs decreased in kgs from 3,570 to 3,430, and decreased in mg/kg biomass from 23.4 to 22.5
- poultry, horses, and veal calves were not reported
- A small quantity of Category I antimicrobials was sold for use in poultry in 2018, with no reported sales by manufacturers or importers since
- There have been intermittent reports of sales of Category I antimicrobials for use in horses since 2018, with no reported sales in 2022 or 2023
Information on route of administration
Since 2018, the majority of sales by route of administration (about 90%) were intended for use via feed or water. In 2023, the overall breakdown of sales by route of administration was:
- Feed (premix) (74%)
- Water (14%)
- Injection (4%)
- Other routes (including topical, ophthalmic, otic, and intrauterine) (6%)
- Oral (other, for individual administration) (1%)
- Intramammary (<1%)
Since 2020, sales for use in feed (in kg) decreased by 7%, sales for use in water decreased by 26%, sales for use by injection increased by 2%, sales for intramammary use decreased by 13%, and sales for other oral use remained stable (less than 1% change). Sales for use by other routes of administration increased by 46% (mostly due to importing of active pharmaceutical ingredients where the final formulation of the product is likely unknown and attributed to “other routes”).
Regional information
The largest quantity of antimicrobials sold in 2023 for use in animals (in kg) by manufacturers and importers were reported to be in Ontario, Alberta, Québec, and Manitoba, which are the major food animal-producing provinces. Provincial biomass estimates will soon be available to contextualize provincial sales.
Compared to 2022, sales (in kg) decreased in Manitoba, British Columbia, Québec, and the Territories/Nunavut, and increased in Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and the Atlantic provinces.
In 2023, most of the quantities of antimicrobials reported by compounders to be sold for use in animals (in kg) were in Québec (57%), followed by Ontario (30%), and Manitoba (7%).
There may be subsequent distribution of antimicrobials across provincial borders after being compounded, hence caution should be applied when interpreting the provincial quantities of compounded antimicrobials.
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