The National Health Service spent £760 million on fat jabs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro last year, tripling its outlay since 2023, according to new figures.
The total expenditure on the weight-loss medications is more than twice the amount allocated to the Cancer Drugs Fund, a vital service that provides cancer patients with fast-track access to new life-saving treatments. It also accounts for roughly one third of the total annual NHS spending on dentistry.
In just a single year, the health service has more than doubled its annual spend on the blockbuster medications, which stood at £331 million during the 2024 to 2025 financial year.
The National Health Service, founded in 1948 to provide healthcare free at the point of delivery, has faced growing financial pressure as demand for modern pharmaceutical treatments increases across England and the rest of the United Kingdom.
The drug that received the biggest financial boost from the recent surge in spending was tirzepatide, which is the active ingredient in Mounjaro. Around three million prescriptions for Mounjaro were issued last year, almost triple the 1.1 million prescriptions recorded in 2024 to 2025. The NHS spent almost £570 million on Mounjaro alone since last summer.
Prescriptions for Diabetic Patients
Figures published by the NHS Business Services Authority show that NHS England spends almost ten times more on drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro today than it did a decade ago. However, these official statistics only include prescriptions issued for diabetic patients.
The injections, known technically as glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 receptor agonists, are also prescribed for weight loss in individuals who do not have diabetes. Because private sales and non-diabetic prescriptions are excluded from the official data, the true total spending across Britain is likely to be far higher.
GLP-1 receptor agonists are a class of medications designed to mimic natural metabolic hormones. They help lower blood sugar levels and slow stomach emptying, which helps patients feel fuller for longer periods when managed alongside health interventions.
Safety Reports and Adverse Reactions
The latest data follows a recent analysis of official drug safety figures that revealed 216 deaths in the United Kingdom have been linked to weight-loss jabs. The medications are currently used by an estimated 2.5 million Britons.
Earlier this month, reports published by the Daily Mail revealed that a total of 150,000 adverse reactions have been associated with GLP-1 drugs across the country.
Semaglutide, which is sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, was linked to 59 fatalities. Meanwhile, liraglutide, marketed under the brand name Saxenda, was associated with 37 deaths.
The safety figures were uncovered in Yellow Card reports submitted to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the government body responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices in the United Kingdom meet acceptable standards of safety and efficacy.
Officials emphasized that Yellow Card reports do not prove that a medicine directly caused a reaction to occur. The filings only indicate that a user or medical practitioner suspected a connection, and officials noted that other underlying health conditions may have played a role in the reported outcomes.
The Yellow Card scheme allows healthcare professionals and members of the public to report suspected side effects. These reports act as an early warning system for drug regulators to monitor potential safety concerns across the population.
Prescribing Guidelines and Weight Loss Approval
Currently, medications such as Mounjaro and Wegovy are approved for weight loss in the United Kingdom. They can be prescribed through the NHS specifically for overweight and obese individuals who also suffer from a weight-related health condition.
Despite official approval, patient access through public healthcare channels remains limited. As a result, the majority of weight-loss injections used across Britain are purchased through private providers and clinics.
GLP-1 agonists have been available in the United Kingdom since 2007, when regulators first approved them to treat type 2 diabetes. However, patient uptake skyrocketed in 2018 following the approval of semaglutide for diabetes treatment, followed by its approval for weight loss in 2021.
Mounjaro, containing the active ingredient tirzepatide, received approval from UK drug chiefs in 2023 and launched in commercial pharmacies early the following year in 2024.
Clinical data shows that the medication can help users shift up to 20 per cent of their total body weight in just over a year. Annual spending on the treatment has leapt ten-fold since 2016.
Rising Diabetes Rates and NHS Budget Impact
Around 4.7 million people in the United Kingdom currently hold a formal diagnosis of diabetes, a medical condition characterized by elevated blood sugar levels.
However, the health charity Diabetes UK estimates that the true number of sufferers could reach six million. That total includes an estimated 1.3 million people who may be living with type 2 diabetes without having received a formal diagnosis.
Diabetes UK is the leading national charity funding research, campaigning for improved care, and supporting millions of people affected by diabetes across the country.
Rising rates of obesity in the United Kingdom over the past 30 years are believed to have driven the upward trend in diabetes cases, leading increasing numbers of patients to turn to GLP-1 medications. The drugs work by mimicking a hormone that lowers blood sugar and keeps users fuller for longer, and they are prescribed alongside a reduced calorie diet and exercise plan.
According to the newly released figures, the NHS now allocates 33 per cent of its entire diabetes medication budget solely to GLP-1 drugs.
Responding to the figures, an NHS spokesman said: "The NHS has supported more than a million people at risk of type 2 diabetes to make changes to their health to delay or prevent the condition through our world-leading prevention programme, saving the NHS the cost of prescribing medicines to them in future."
