England's pharmacies handed out 1.3 billion prescriptions last year, 22 for every person. The most common is atorvastatin, a cholesterol pill: 78 million, nearly three times as many as ten years ago.

Name: England's pharmacies handed out 1.3 billion prescriptions last year, 22 for every person. The most common is atorvastatin, a cholesterol pill: 78 million, nearly three times as many as ten years ago.
Creator: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis (2026)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Items, 2025/262015/16
Atorvastatin
78.0m
Cholesterol
Amlodipine
41.2m
Blood pressure
Lansoprazole
37.9m
Stomach acid
Ramipril
36.3m
Blood pressure
Omeprazole
35.6m
Stomach acid
Levothyroxine
35.0m
Thyroid
Bisoprolol
31.3m
Heart
Vitamin D
29.2m
Bones
Metformin
27.4m
Type 2 diabetes
Sertraline
25.8m
Depression

England's ten most-dispensed medicines, by prescriptions filled in the year to March 2026, against ten years earlier. Each prescription is usually four weeks of pills.

Why this is happening

We are older. Six of the ten treat conditions that build up with age: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart trouble, an underactive thyroid and diabetes. People usually take these pills for years.
The rules changed. In 2014 the NHS advice body NICE said anyone with a 10% risk of a heart attack or stroke in ten years should be offered a statin, down from 20%, and named atorvastatin. Simvastatin, then top, fell from 33 million to 10 million.
Sertraline, an antidepressant, rose fastest of all: from 10 million to 26 million.

The take

The top ten are cheap. They make up 29% of all prescriptions but only 5% of the cost, and atorvastatin is under £1 a prescription. The NHS's biggest single drug bill is now Mounjaro, the diabetes and weight-loss jab: £574 million for 3.1 million prescriptions, £187 each.

Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis (2026)

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<a href="https://macrosnaps.app/c/england-medicine-cabinet">
  <img src="https://macrosnaps.app/charts/england-medicine-cabinet.png" alt="England's ten most-dispensed medicines, by prescriptions filled in the year to March 2026, against ten years earlier. Each prescription is usually four weeks of pills." width="640" style="max-width:100%;height:auto">
</a>
<p style="font:12px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif;color:#6b7280;max-width:640px">
  Chart: <a href="https://macrosnaps.app/c/england-medicine-cabinet">MacroSnaps</a>,
  <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>. Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis (2026).
</p>

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Cites MacroSnaps for the chart. For the numbers themselves, cite the source below.

MacroSnaps (2026). "England's pharmacies handed out 1.3 billion prescriptions last year, 22 for every person. The most common is atorvastatin, a cholesterol pill: 78 million, nearly three times as many as ten years ago." Edition No. 102, 21 October 2026. https://macrosnaps.app/c/england-medicine-cabinet

Permanent link: https://macrosnaps.app/c/england-medicine-cabinet

The underlying data

MacroSnaps drew this chart. The numbers in it are published by NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis (2026). Their terms, not ours, govern the underlying data.