Antidepressants: Children and Young People
(asked on 10th February 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many anti-depressant prescriptions have been prescribed to patients (1) under the age of 18, and (2) under the age of 25, in each year since 2015.
The NHS Business Services Authority publishes statistics for anti-depressants prescribed in England that are then dispensed in the community in England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands. The following table shows the total number of items for antidepressants, British National Formulary section 0403, dispensed to patients aged under 18 years old and patients aged under 25 years old, which includes the items for under 18 year-olds, for the financial years 2015/16 to 2023/24, and a year-to-date figure for 2024/25:
Financial year | Aged under 18 years old | Aged under 25 years old |
2015/16 | 312,113 | 2,477,798 |
2016/17 | 332,706 | 2,759,953 |
2017/18 | 346,126 | 2,910,607 |
2018/19 | 367,850 | 3,202,784 |
2019/20 | 393,762 | 3,525,602 |
2020/21 | 406,391 | 3,890,347 |
2021/22 | 437,365 | 4,170,154 |
2022/23 | 448,515 | 4,119,463 |
2023/24 | 435,992 | 4,033,211 |
April to September 2024 | 176,082 | 1,911,788 |
Total | 3,656,902 | 33,001,707 |