Most Prescribed Drugs in England — NHS Prescribing Data
Below are the 2,661 most prescribed chemical substances in England, ranked by total items prescribed over the last 12 months. Data from the NHSBSA English Prescribing Dataset.
| # | Drug | Category | Items | NHS Cost | Practices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atorvastatin | Cardiovascular System | 73.2M | £87.9M | 7,528 |
| 2 | Amlodipine | Cardiovascular System | 39.8M | £30.4M | 7,565 |
| 3 | Lansoprazole | Gastro-Intestinal System | 36.6M | £40.4M | 7,896 |
| 4 | Omeprazole | Gastro-Intestinal System | 35.8M | £93.1M | 8,052 |
| 5 | Ramipril | Cardiovascular System | 35.2M | £37.3M | 7,517 |
| 6 | Levothyroxine sodium | Endocrine System | 34.5M | £42.7M | 7,316 |
| 7 | Bisoprolol fumarate | Cardiovascular System | 30.1M | £22.0M | 7,499 |
| 8 | Colecalciferol | Nutrition and Blood | 28.2M | £103.9M | 7,574 |
| 9 | Metformin hydrochloride | Endocrine System | 26.6M | £81.6M | 7,453 |
| 10 | Sertraline hydrochloride | Central Nervous System | 24.6M | £45.2M | 7,759 |
| 11 | Aspirin | Cardiovascular System | 20.2M | £13.9M | 7,198 |
| 12 | Salbutamol | Respiratory System | 19.7M | £60.9M | 7,866 |
| 13 | Amitriptyline hydrochloride | Central Nervous System | 16.2M | £16.8M | 7,716 |
| 14 | Paracetamol | Central Nervous System | 15.9M | £67.5M | 7,740 |
| 15 | Co-codamol (Codeine phosphate/paracetamol) | Central Nervous System | 15.1M | £58.2M | 7,704 |
| 16 | Beclometasone dipropionate | Respiratory System | 13.3M | £308.9M | 7,547 |
| 17 | Mirtazapine | Central Nervous System | 13.2M | £13.1M | 7,720 |
| 18 | Citalopram hydrobromide | Central Nervous System | 13.2M | £10.2M | 7,380 |
| 19 | Losartan potassium | Cardiovascular System | 12.8M | £12.5M | 7,248 |
| 20 | Clopidogrel | Cardiovascular System | 11.8M | £11.6M | 7,053 |
| 21 | Simvastatin | Cardiovascular System | 11.7M | £11.9M | 6,838 |
| 22 | Furosemide | Cardiovascular System | 11.2M | £8.3M | 7,531 |
| 23 | Tamsulosin hydrochloride | Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Urinary-Tract Disorders | 9.7M | £14.4M | 7,172 |
| 24 | Folic acid | Nutrition and Blood | 9.6M | £8.2M | 7,411 |
| 25 | Pregabalin | Central Nervous System | 9.6M | £34.0M | 7,656 |
| 26 | Apixaban | Cardiovascular System | 9.6M | £50.0M | 7,234 |
| 27 | Influenza | Immunological Products and Vaccines | 9.2M | £111.0M | 5,896 |
| 28 | Dapagliflozin | Endocrine System | 8.9M | £322.1M | 7,140 |
| 29 | Candesartan cilexetil | Cardiovascular System | 8.5M | £14.5M | 7,131 |
| 30 | Propranolol hydrochloride | Cardiovascular System | 8.0M | £20.4M | 7,450 |