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The number of prescription items dispensed by community pharmacies in England increased for the fifth year in a row, according to the latest official figures.

The NHS Business Services Authority revealed 11,011 community pharmacies submitted prescriptions for processing in 2025-26 when 1.19 billion items were dispensed. That was up from 1.16 billion in 2024-25, 1.11 billion in 2023-24, 1.08 billion in 2022-23 and 1.04 billion in 2021-22.

Average monthly items per pharmacy also increased from 7,761.92 in 2024-25 to 7,987.58 in 2025-26. In 2025-26, an additional 2.49 million items were issued following Pharmacy First clinical pathways consultations, a 32 per cent increase from 2024-25.

However, the number of pharmacies dispensing via the electronic prescription service fell from 11,014 in 2024-25 to 10,892 in 2025-26. The drop-off was even bigger between 2023-24 (11,979) and 2024-25.

The average dispensing fee per pharmacy increased from £105,427.56 in 2024-25 to £108,783.77 in 2025-26. Pharmacies receiving methadone fees during that period fell from 7,917 to 7,684 while those receiving schedule 2 controlled drugs fees dropped from 10,995 to 10,824.

The number of pharmacies providing the discharge medicines service rose from 6,331 to 6,496 but pharmacies providing the New Medicine Service fell from 10,649 to 10,559, as did pharmacies administering adult flu vaccines (9,306 to 9,212).

Pharmacies rolling out the hypertension service increased from 9,590 to 9,855 while pharmacies providing Covid vaccines went up from 4,690 to 5,093.

The figures also showed 13.3 million prescription items were dispensed by appliance contractors, a 6.3 per cent increase from 2024-25, while the cost of drugs and appliances reimbursed totalled £10.8 billion, a 3.5 per cent increase from 2024-25.