Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of adults in England currently receive prescriptions for anti-depressants.

The Medicines Used in Mental Health statistical release includes information about prescribing in England for medicines classified within the British National Formulary section 0403, as antidepressant drugs. There were 6,873,381 total identified patients, aged 18 years old and over, in quarter two of 2024/25.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes population statistics for England on the ONS website. The estimated mid-year population for people aged 18 years old and over in England in 2023 was 45,691,677.

Based on the latest published data, the number of adults, those aged 18 years old and over, in England who received a prescription for antidepressant drugs in the quarterly period of July to September 2024 was 15% of the estimated 2023 mid-year population.