US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine released the report.

6.2 million kilograms (kg) of medically important antibiotics were sold in 2022, up from 5.9 million kg in 2021.

Swine accounted for the highest percentage of sales (43%), followed by cattle (41%).

Almost two thirds of sales were of tetracyclines (65%), with penicillins accounting for 10% of sales.

According to the biomass-adjusted sales chart, presented for the first time in the new report, all antibiotic classes except for fluoroquinolones saw increases in biomass-adjusted sales, and most of them saw double-digit increases.

The concern about overuse of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals is that it contributes to a reservoir of resistant bacteria that could reduce the effectiveness of those antibiotics, both in animals and humans.