The EU imports 80% of its critical medicines from China and India.
HealthEuropean Union
- Error detected
- The claim states that 80% of critical medicines are imported from China and India. Available EU institutional sources show that the 80% figure applies to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), not to critical or finished medicines.
The claim narrows the source countries to China and India, whereas the Consilium states that 80% of imported pharmaceutical ingredients come from five countries (China, US, UK, Indonesia, and India).
For finished medicines — the category closest to what a lay audience would understand as 'medicines' — the share from China and India is approximately 40%, not 80%.
- Omissions
- The 80% figure refers to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), not finished critical medicines. The MEP conflates two distinct categories.
- For finished medicines sold in Europe, the share from China and India is approximately 40%, according to the EESC.
- The Consilium (EU Council) notes that 80% of imported pharmaceutical ingredients come from five countries — China, US, UK, Indonesia, and India — not exclusively China and India.
- The MEP did not cite any source for the figure. No primary Eurostat or European Commission data was found that directly quantifies the import share of 'critical medicines' specifically as 80% from China and India.
- The session date is May 2026. All sources found were published between 2023 and 2025, and no source was found that the MEP could have directly cited at the time of the speech.