Matej Mikulic
Research expert covering health, pharma & medtech
Pharmacy landscape in the United Kingdom (UK) - Statistics & Facts
The United Kingdom is currently the world’s seventh-largest pharmaceutical market. Accordingly, it has a very vivid and important pharmacy market. As of 2023, pharmacy revenues in the UK accumulated to about 36 billion British pounds (based on consumer spending, including VAT).
A part of everyday life
Pharmacies are a major retail channel for the distribution of pharmaceutical products, like prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Overseeing prescriptions and counseling are among the core services of a pharmacy. Besides drugs, many pharmacies sell a variety of products, for example dietary supplements, cosmetics and personal care products, snack foods, various medical equipment, etc. (This is one reason why the pharmaceutical market and the pharmacy market of a country are overlapping, but not identical.) In England alone, there are over 11 thousand pharmacies. The density of pharmacies in the UK shows a decreasing tendency. In 2023, there were some 17 pharmacies per 100,000 inhabitants in the UK.Atorvastatin and omeprazole at the top
As mentioned above, the controlled dispensary of prescription drugs is one of the most important parts of a pharmacy. Community pharmacies in England alone dispensed 1.08 billion prescription items in 2022/2023. This is a new record-high and significantly higher than the 914 million a decade earlier. Medication for various cardiovascular conditions is by far the most frequently dispensed therapeutic class, responsible for nearly one third of total prescription items. In Scotland, pharmacies dispense about a tenth of the number dispensed in England, in relation to the population sizes. However, in both countries, atorvastatin and omeprazole were the two most dispensed drugs in 2022/2023.Online pharmacies still to show full potential
There are several key players dominating the UK’s pharmacy market. Boots UK Limited is the largest pharmacy chain in the UK, generating around 11 billion British pounds of annual revenue. It is today a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the retail pharmacy giant from Illinois in the United States. Well Pharmacy is the largest independent pharmacy chain in the UK. As in many other areas, e-commerce is becoming an increasingly important segment for pharmacies. The share of online pharmacy users in the UK is expected to grow from 27 percent to over 60 percent by 2028. In 2022, pharmacy2u.co.uk was the leading online shop in the UK pharmacy segment.
