Overview
Around a third of the UK’s estimated £660 million dietary supplements market has been spent in the NHS. The extent of vitamin and mineral supplements prescribing is seen in the Prescription Cost for England data published by NHS Digital.1,2
In 2017, the number of vitamin and mineral items dispensed was 33.6 million, at a net ingredient cost (NIC) of £221 million. Vitamin D accounted for around 70 per cent of dispensed VMS items, while the vitamin B category accounted for around 15 per cent of items.