Pharmaceutical Facts and Stats
In this section, you'll find some interesting facts and figures about the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, and what this means to the NHS and its patients.
- Approximately 20% of the world's top medicines were discovered and developed in the UK.
- The pharmaceutical industry provides the nation's medicines to the NHS at a cost of just 47p per person per day.
- In real terms, medicines prices are around 24% lower than they were 10 years ago.
- In 2007, the pharmaceutical industry invested more than £3.9 billion in research and development in the UK - that's more than £10 million every day.
- Sales of medicines to the NHS were £10.3 billion in 2007.
- Despite a constant growth every year in the number of prescriptions issued, medicines account for approximately 10% of total NHS costs.
Top 10 Disease Areas Requiring NHS Prescriptions
1. Cardiovascular system (£2,315 million)
2. Central nervous system (£1,999 million)
3. Endocrine system (£1,076 million)
4. Respiratory system (£1,046 million)
5. Gastro-intestinal system (£718 million)
6. Dressings and appliances (£621 million)
7. Nutrition and blood (£444 million)
8. Malignant disease (£360 million)
9. Obstetrics and gynaecology (£309 million)
10. Infections (£281 million)
- In 2007, pharmaceutical industry exports were £14.6 billion, creating a trade surplus of £4.3 billion.
- The annual cost of medicines prescribed by GPs in the UK is about £195 per person - much less than the cost in Germany, France, Japan or the USA.
- A fifth of the top 25 medicines prescribed by GPs on the NHS are British.
- The pharmaceutical industry employs around 72,000 people and generates another 250,000 jobs in related industries.
- Pharmaceutical companies carry out more than 25% of all industrial research and development (R&D) in the UK, and spend more than 20% of their gross output on R&D.
