Pharmaceutical industry
The number of all pharmaceutical companies forms the pharmaceutical industry. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were 546 pharmaceutical companies registered in Germany in 2019, of which 91 percent are SMEs. The majority of these are owner-managed or medium-sized companies and a small number are German subsidiaries of multinational corporations. The pharmaceutical industry in Germany is organized and supervised mainly by three associations: the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPI), the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (VfA), and Pro Generika e.V. In 2020, the pharmaceutical industry in Germany generated sales of around 43 billion euros, making it one of the most important industries in Germany.