The number of pharmacies in Germany continues to fall and has reached its lowest value since 1977. At the end of the third quarter of 2025, there were only 16,732 pharmacies nationwide, which corresponds to a decrease of 309 compared to the end of 2024 with 17,041 establishments. In the third quarter alone, 71 pharmacies closed, while in the first nine months of the year there were a total of 355 closures compared to only 46 new openings. Despite a slight slowdown, the decline momentum remains significant, although experience shows that the number of closures still increases in the last quarters of a year. The data comes from a survey by the ABDA – Federal Association of German Pharmacists’ Associations, based on information from the state chambers of pharmacists.

Any closure makes access to medicines more difficult and significantly worsens the health care of the population, as ABDA President Thomas Preis points out. He sees the main cause as politics, which has not adjusted pharmacy fees for more than ten years, although inflation and wage increases are continuously increasing operating costs. The planned pharmacy reform law of the Federal Ministry of Health will further drive the decline and weaken the nationwide system to the detriment of citizens through deregulation. In addition, the difficult economic situation will make it even more complicated to recruit new skilled workers. Preis calls on the federal government to implement the coalition agreement, which provides for a fee increase to stabilize pharmacies. In its position paper “Towards a healthy future with the pharmacy”, the ABDA has already submitted proposals for forward-looking solutions.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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