Table 1.

Trend in the Availability of an Equivalent Drug and Main Cause of Drug Shortages in Italy from July 2018 to July 2024.

Year	Shortages with an equivalent drug	Shortages without an equivalent	Cases due to permanent discontinuation
2018	74.5% (n = 1205)	25.5% (n = 412)	50.7% (n = 821)
2019	76.3% (n = 1638)	23.6% (n = 507)	45.2% (n = 970)
2020	78.3% (n = 2042)	21.7% (n = 565)	41.6% (n = 1084)
2021	77.1% (n = 1868)	22.9% (n = 554)	49.7% (n = 1204)
2022	77.7% (n = 2175)	22.3% (n = 623)	49.7% (n = 1302)
2023	78.4% (n = 2629)	21.6% (n = 744)	42% (n = 1417)
2024	78.4% (n = 2881)	21.6% (n = 771)	42% (n = 1566)