The European Commission has published EU-wide statistics for 2018, for the use of animals in biomedical research.
The headline figure for the total number of animals used (for the first time) in the 28 countries of the EU in 2018 was 8,921,758 - slightly lower than in 2017 (9,388,162).
The total is made up of animals used in basic and applied research, and regulatory studies aimed at ensuring the safety of medicines and other products, routine production and education and training.
In 2018, 88% of the total animals used were mice, fish and rats, whereas dogs, cats and monkeys account for around 0.3% of the total – for the first time these percentage figures also included Norway.
EARA executive director, Kirk Leech, said: “This year we have seen the vital contribution that research using animals has had during the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time of growing activist pressure on the European Commission to immediately end the use of animal research, these annual statistics demonstrate the commitment the biomedical sector is showing to being open and transparent about the important work it does.”
Also last week, Great Britain produced its animal use statistics measuring the number of total procedures on animals used for research. The figure decreased by 15% to 2.88m due to various Covid-19 national lockdowns.