Pharmaceutical prescription items dispensed in England 2006-2024

In the years since 2016/17, there has been over one billion prescription items dispensed from community pharmacies in England. The year with the highest items dispensed was 2023/24, when 1.11 billion items were dispensed, a significant increase from the 850 million items dispensed 13 years previously. 

Dispensing pharmacy numbers

The average amount of items dispensed at each pharmacy in 2023/24 works out at around seven thousand per month per pharmacy. Although, over 3,000 pharmacies dispensed an average of over ten thousand items a month. Unsurprisingly, the average number of prescriptions dispensed at each pharmacy has also increased since 2006.  

What is being dispensed?

The therapeutic class with the highest total of prescription items dispensed was for the cardiovascular system at some 355 million drugs, followed by drugs for the central nervous system, which had approximately 231 million items dispensed. The single leading drug dispensed was atorvastatin which reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes in those with high cholesterol.