80% of the active ingredients for European pharmaceutical production come from India and China.

Omissions

• The MEP presented 80% as an exact, flat figure when all available EU sources qualify it as 'up to 80%', indicating it is the upper bound of a range (60–80%), not a precise measurement.
• The MEP did not specify that the dependency is significantly higher for certain categories — notably antibiotics — for which it can exceed 80%, while for other APIs it may be lower.
• The Critical Medicines Alliance (2024) placed the combined China–India share of global API production at 55%, suggesting the 80% figure specifically reflects Europe's import dependency rather than global production share.
• Several sources consulted were published in 2025 and remain consistent with the claim's period; no source with a publication date after the session date (2026-05-18) was needed.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Economic and Social Committee (EESC)According to current data, up to 80% of APIs used in Europe and about 40% of finished medicines sold in Europe come from China or India.
• AcademicPharmacia (academic journal)According to the authors, up to 80% of the chemical substances required for pharmaceutical production in the EU are sourced or synthesized outside its territory, with China and India as dominant suppliers.
• SecondaryMERICS (Mercator Institute for China Studies)Already, India and China produce 60 to 80 percent of the APIs in medicines sold in Europe, according to the Critical Medicines Alliance.