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Independent analysis of NHS open data
PharmaInsight

Fentanyl vs Codeine phosphate

National NHS prescribing compared (Prescription Cost Analysis)
Data updated May 2026

Codeine phosphate was dispensed 10.0× as often as Fentanyl in May 2026 — 476,175 items versus 47,704 in England.

47,704items

Fentanyl · May 2026

NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis

476,175items

Codeine phosphate · May 2026

NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis

Figure 1. Fentanyl versus Codeine phosphate: national items dispensed by month

▬ Fentanyl   ·   ╌ Codeine phosphate

0 250k 500k Jan 2021 Nov 2021 Sep 2022 Jul 2023 May 2024 Mar 2025 May 2026 Codeine phosphat… 47,704 Jan 2021: 75k Feb 2021: 70k Mar 2021: 77k Apr 2021: 75k May 2021: 71k Jun 2021: 75k Jul 2021: 76k Aug 2021: 72k Sep 2021: 74k Oct 2021: 70k Nov 2021: 72k Dec 2021: 75k Jan 2022: 69k Feb 2022: 65k Mar 2022: 72k Apr 2022: 68k May 2022: 68k Jun 2022: 69k Jul 2022: 67k Aug 2022: 69k Sep 2022: 67k Oct 2022: 65k Nov 2022: 66k Dec 2022: 66k Jan 2023: 64k Feb 2023: 59k Mar 2023: 66k Apr 2023: 61k May 2023: 64k Jun 2023: 64k Jul 2023: 64k Aug 2023: 63k Sep 2023: 61k Oct 2023: 61k Nov 2023: 61k Dec 2023: 60k Jan 2024: 60k Feb 2024: 56k Mar 2024: 57k Apr 2024: 58k May 2024: 59k Jun 2024: 54k Jul 2024: 59k Aug 2024: 57k Sep 2024: 55k Oct 2024: 58k Nov 2024: 54k Dec 2024: 56k Jan 2025: 56k Feb 2025: 49k Mar 2025: 52k Apr 2025: 53k May 2025: 54k Jun 2025: 52k Jul 2025: 56k Aug 2025: 51k Sep 2025: 52k Oct 2025: 53k Nov 2025: 49k Dec 2025: 54k Jan 2026: 50k Feb 2026: 46k Mar 2026: 50k Apr 2026: 49k May 2026: 48k

Source: NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis, to May 2026

Fentanyl versus Codeine phosphate, May 2026
Measure Fentanyl Codeine phosphate
Items, May 2026 47,704 476,175
Items, last 12 months 609,337 5,689,284
Net ingredient cost, May 2026 £1,557,824 £1,285,900

See the full profile for Fentanyl or Codeine phosphate.