News

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What were this year’s most prescribed drugs?

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Medications to improve heart health, mental health and type 2 diabetes have been named the top 10 most commonly used drugs by Australian patients, while COVID-19 antivirals have dropped off the list, according to Australian Prescriber.
 
The list, which covers prescriptions from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, is based on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) prescriptions from the date of supply and includes both subsidised and non-subsidised prescriptions.
 
Featuring heavily in the top 10 list by defined daily dose (DDD) were cholesterol-lowering medications, drugs to treat hypertension and improve heart health, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) antidepressants and a drug prescribed for type 2 diabetes.
 
According to Australian Prescriber, the most useful measure of drug use is counting how many people in every thousand Australians are taking the standard dose of a drug every day (presented as DDD/1000 population/day).
 
Using this metric, the top 10 medications from 2024–25 were:
 

1. Rosuvastatin (90.95)
2. Atorvastatin (80.58)
3. Perindopril (49.44)
4. Amlodipine (46.94)
5. Candesartan (33.15)
6. Sertraline (31.85)
7. Telmisartan (30.51)
8. Escitalopram (29.45)
9. Metformin (28.11)
10. Ramipril (24.1)

 
Including drugs which have been affected by the availability of 60-day prescriptions, the top 10 drugs by prescription counts were:

 

1. Rosuvastatin (16,313,366)
2. Atorvastatin (11,319,805)
3. Pantoprazole (11,030,917)
4. Esomeprazole (7,974,275)
5. Escitalopram (6,557,355)   
6. Perindopril (6,375,761)
7. Sertraline (6,245,846)
8. Metformin (6,147,265)
9. Cefalexin (5,163,370)
10. Amoxicillin (4,965,405)

 
Dr Michael Tam, a member of the RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care said there are some clear consistencies in the data when compared to other years.
 
‘I’m not very surprised that, by volume, the highest prescribed medicines in Australia are cardiovascular medications,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘We also have medicines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, so these are the cholesterol lowering medicines, the blood pressure medicines – these medicines have dominated the top 10 for at least a decade, and so from that perspective, it’s not surprising to see that continue.
 
‘Very often we will see one or two of the first-line antidepressant medicines, so usually there are a couple of the common SSRIs that in the top 10 as well, so again, not surprising they’re represented in that list of the top 10 medicines prescribed.’
 
A third list covers the top 10 drugs by cost to the Federal Government, with weight-loss drug semaglutide entering the line-up, and COVID-19 antiviral medications molnupiravir (in position five last year) and ‘nirmatrelvir with ritonavir’ (position nine last year) making an exit.
 
The top 10 PBS and RPBS drugs for 2024–25 by cost to the Government (not including rebates) as well as volume of prescriptions were:
 

1. Pembrolizumab ($684,838,086/80,712 prescriptions)
2. Elexacaftor+tezacaftor+ivacaftor with ivacaftor ($618,324,241/29,293)
3. Ustekinumab ($520,156,660/74,000)
4. Dupilumab ($485,257,657/282,908)
5. Aflibercept ($476,335,237/485,167)
6. Nivolumab ($420,254,122/58,516)
7. Semaglutide ($341,468,502/2,863,016)
8. Denosumab ($313,335,758/1,244,642)
9. Upadacitinib ($287,099,750/197,436)
10. Apixaban ($282,688,618/4,349,481)

 
Dr Tam said it is worth taking in how different the list is between the most common medicines prescribed and those topping the total cost to the PBS.

Some of the drugs attracting high value – as much as half a billion dollars – can have low volumes of prescriptions and are for conditions that only a small portion of people will use, he said. ‘But they make a big difference’ to those patients and are ‘absolutely revolutionary’.
 
Dr Tam said this highlights how fortunate Australians are to have a PBS, health system and policy that’s ‘quite humane’ in its approach and a society that’s ‘compassionate’.
 
The inclusion of semaglutide among the most costly medications to the government is ‘appropriate’, Dr Tam said.
 
‘It is an expensive treatment, but you’ll notice the total number of prescriptions is quite high,’ he said.
 
‘It’s used on the PBS for diabetes, cardiovascular conditions – it’s a common condition in the community. It has a number of very beneficial effects in diabetes, separate to the weight loss.
 
‘It also seems to really change the trajectory, particularly from the perspective of cardiovascular risk and risk of progression to renal disease.
 
‘It’s a very, very good treatment for diabetes, and with its increasing use, it’s popped up in the top 10 list. I would argue that it’s very, very appropriate for that to be there.’
 
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