The number of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. has increased between 2009 and 2019. In 2009 the number of prescriptions dispensed was near 3.95 billion, while in 2019 the number of prescriptions dispensed was around 4.22 billion. The increase in the number of prescriptions dispensed has a multifactorial origin that includes health care sources, health insurance and prescription drug benefits. However, the increase in prescription drug usage comes with a price tag as the price of drugs in the U.S. is also on the rise.
The U.S. has some of the highest per capita drug spending in the world. That is largely because the prices of drugs in the U.S. are based solely on what the market can bare, rather than what the actual costs of production are. Personal health care expenditures in the U.S. have more than doubled since 2000. Estimates suggest that the cost of drugs will continue to increase. Estimated U.S. prescribed drug expenditures will likely amount to 360 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2020.
Total number of medical prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. from 2009 to 2020
(in millions)
Includes prescriptions and insulins dispensed through chain and independent pharmacies, food store pharmacies, mail service pharmacies, and long-term
care facilities. Excludes OTC. QuintilesIMS routinely updates its national audits, which may result in changes to previously reported market size
and growth rates. Prescriptions are not adjusted for length of therapy; 90-day and 30-day prescriptions are both counted as one prescription.
The statistic was assembled from several IQVIA (IMS Health/QuintilesIMS) reports.
** Change in data collection from 2016 on. From that year on, prescription counts are adjusted for prescription length and re-aggregated.
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IQVIA. (May 27, 2021). Total number of medical prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. from 2009 to 2020 (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/238702/us-total-medical-prescriptions-issued/
IQVIA. "Total number of medical prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. from 2009 to 2020 (in millions)." Chart. May 27, 2021. Statista. Accessed May 25, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/238702/us-total-medical-prescriptions-issued/
IQVIA. (2021). Total number of medical prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. from 2009 to 2020 (in millions). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: May 25, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/238702/us-total-medical-prescriptions-issued/
IQVIA. "Total Number of Medical Prescriptions Dispensed in The U.S. from 2009 to 2020 (in Millions)." Statista, Statista Inc., 27 May 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/238702/us-total-medical-prescriptions-issued/
IQVIA, Total number of medical prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. from 2009 to 2020 (in millions) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/238702/us-total-medical-prescriptions-issued/ (last visited May 25, 2022)