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PharmaInsight

August 2025 in numbers

NHS community prescribing in England (Prescription Cost Analysis).
Data updated August 2025
101,961,546items

Dispensed in August 2025

NHSBSA Prescription Cost Analysis

£901,025,828

Net ingredient cost, August 2025

NHSBSA PCA

Figure 1. The most-dispensed medicines in England, August 2025

The most-dispensed medicines in England, August 202502.5m5m7.5m10mAtorvastatinLansoprazoleOmeprazoleBisoprolol fumara…Sertraline hydroc…

Source: NHSBSA English Prescribing Dataset

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Most-dispensed medicines

Download full month (CSV)
Top medicines by items, August 2025
MedicineItemsNet ingredient cost
Atorvastatin 6,245,158 £5,860,341
Amlodipine 3,278,640 £2,852,306
Lansoprazole 3,034,834 £3,516,175
Ramipril 2,905,311 £2,955,248
Omeprazole 2,867,687 £7,839,260
Levothyroxine sodium 2,807,299 £3,547,993
Bisoprolol fumarate 2,508,278 £1,960,118
Colecalciferol 2,307,646 £9,406,778
Metformin hydrochloride 2,194,795 £6,168,902
Sertraline hydrochloride 2,040,389 £3,704,108
Aspirin 1,631,641 £1,374,682
Amitriptyline hydrochloride 1,317,137 £1,517,765

Biggest risers

Largest month-on-month rise in items (medicines above 10,000 items).

Biggest risers month on month
MedicineItemsChange
Influenza 58,846 +54.1%
Ciprofloxain/dexameth 23,758 +6.1%
Fluorouracil (Sunscreen) 17,940 +4.9%
Permethrin 19,540 +4.7%
Daridorexant 12,538 +3.3%
Amiodarone hydrochloride 34,264 +0.9%
Other individually formulated bought in preparations 20,088 −1.7%
Fosfomycin trometamol 16,956 −1.8%

Biggest fallers

Largest month-on-month fall in items.

Biggest fallers month on month
MedicineItemsChange
Sodium cromoglicate 48,680 −28.0%
Olopatadine 24,641 −24.0%
Hepatitis A 35,091 −23.3%
Neomycin sulfate 30,436 −21.8%
Typhoid 39,671 −21.6%
Norethisterone 34,891 −20.3%
Oral rehydration salts 14,425 −19.0%
Peak Flow Meters 16,468 −18.4%

Download this data

Every medicine dispensed in August 2025 is in this month's CSV. For the full monthly history — the national headline series, and the top 500 medicines ranked in every month — see the headline series and most-prescribed medicines datasets in our open data catalogue.