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Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench) on Monday, 23 February 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 March 2026. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 March 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Antidepressants: Prescriptions

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS prescriptions for antidepressants have been prescribed to patients (1) of all ages, (2) under 25 years old, and (3) under 18 years old, in each year since 2015.

Answer

The following table shows the number of National Health Service prescription items classified as antidepressants by age group for each year from 2015/16 to 2024/25:

Financial year

All ages

Under 25 years old

Under 18 years old

2015/16

61,903,886

2,477,798

312,113

2016/17

65,590,427

2,759,953

332,706

2017/18

68,279,423

2,910,607

346,126

2018/19

71,765,790

3,202,784

367,850

2019/20

76,329,800

3,525,602

393,762

2020/21

79,410,554

3,890,347

406,391

2021/22

83,438,128

4,170,154

437,365

2022/23

86,263,722

4,119,463

448,515

2023/24

89,131,582

4,033,211

435,992

2024/25

92,642,110

4,005,259

410,772

2025/26

47,327,223

1,935,508

169,147

Note: data for 2025/26 is from April to September.


The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold data on the clinical indication of a prescription and therefore does not know which prescriptions were prescribed for depression. Many drugs have multiple uses, for example, some drugs that are classified as antidepressants can be issued to treat migraine, chronic pain, myalgic encephalomyelitis, and a range of other conditions.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL14645
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Prescriptions Antidepressants
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk