OTC medicines spend reduced for second year running

Office for National Statistics figures show that real-terms spending on over-the-counter medicines in 2024 was £7.6bn, down from £8.1bn in 2023.

A woman at a pharmacy counter in UK pharmacy store — Data show that the total pharmaceutical expenditure in 2024 in real terms was £35.7bn, a decrease of 3.9% compared with 2023

Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines spending in the UK has reduced for the second year in a row, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In a report published on 29 April 2026, the ONS said that total pharmaceutical expenditure in 2024 — in real terms (2025 prices, adjusted for inflation) — was £35.7bn, a decrease of 3.9% compared with expenditure in 2023.

The decrease was “caused by reductions in both government and non‑government spending”, the report said.

The report, which covered all forms of healthcare financing — both government spend and private purchases — revealed that OTC medicines made up 21.3% of the total pharmaceutical expenditure in 2024, compared with 24.1% in 2023.

The real-terms spend on OTC medicines was £7.6bn in 2024 — down from £8.1bn in 2023 — which represents a 6.1% decrease, the report found. In 2022, the spend was £9.3bn.

PAGB, the consumer healthcare association, did not wish to comment on the OTC findings, but it highlighted its ‘PAGB highlights’ report, which revealed a 2% growth in unit sales compared with the previous year.

“The fact that this is driven by shopper demand rather than prices should spark some optimism for manufacturers and retailers,” the PAGB report added.

Survey results published by the PAGB in January 2026, revealed that more than three-quarters of respondents (77%, n=3,090) said they would ‘sometimes’ or ‘always’ buy branded OTC products.

The results of the same survey also revealed that nearly two-thirds (61%, n=2,440) of respondents agreed that trust in a brand influenced their decision to purchase an OTC product.

In April 2026, survey results published by Community Pharmacy Wales revealed that 42% of respondents (n=512) had purchased OTC medicines from a pharmacy in the past 12 months.

Similarly, the findings of a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in February 2026 revealed that more than half of respondents (53%, n=1,660) had used OTC medicines over a six-month period.