Number of pharmacists in the United Kingdom (UK) 2010-2023

In 2023, there were approximately 80 thousand employed and self-employed pharmacists in the United Kingdom (UK). The number of pharmacists in employment in the UK has fluctuated since 2010, but has increased by a net of more than 30 thousand since the beginning of the provided time interval.

Number of pharmacies

Since 2006, the number of community pharmacies in England first increased, culminating in a total of roughly 12 thousand community pharmacies in 2017/18. However, since then, the number decreased slowly but steadily to around 11,400 in 2022/2023.

Dispensing numbers

In 2022/23, there were some 1.08 billion prescription items dispensed from pharmacies in England. The number of prescriptions has slightly increased over the last three years. Over 2,700 English pharmacies dispensed an average of over ten thousand items a month in 2022/23 and the average number of items dispensed per month per pharmacy was approximately seven thousand in that year.