Germany reports decline in animal testing as EU seeks alternatives

In 2024, more than 1.3 million animals, primarily mice, rats, fish, and rabbits, were used in animal testing in Germany. Additionally, approximately 670,000 animals were killed for scientific purposes, such as organ examination, and 1.6 million surplus animals bred for research were killed without being used. Despite these figures, the number of test animals in Germany has declined for five consecutive years.

Advocacy groups and medical professionals are calling for increased government efforts to reduce animal testing. On a broader scale, the European Commission has introduced a roadmap to phase out animal testing in the safety assessment of chemicals. The EU aims to replace traditional in vivo methods with non-animal alternatives, such as in vitro systems, which allow researchers to compare new substances against known chemicals to assess hazard potential without using living organisms.