Proportion of the UK population who are on antidepressants by country

Dyddiad y datganiad:
1 March 2023

FOI Ref: FOI/2023/4867

You asked

Please could you provide information about the proportion of the UK population who are on antidepressants by country (England, Wales, Scotland and the North of Ireland). If you have these data, I would also appreciate a breakdown of the above by age. I am aware that there is information in the public domain about how many prescriptions are being handed out. However, I believe it does not offer a good measure of the above as the number of prescriptions likely includes repeat prescriptions given to the same person.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

Unfortunately, we do not hold data relating to the number of prescriptions are given for antidepressants or the amount of people currently taking anti-depressants in the United Kingdom.

We have published analysis of GP Diagnosis of depression via the following link: Coronavirus and GP diagnosed depression in England.

We have also published the following analysis, which may be useful: Socio-demographic differences in use of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services, England - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). We are currently in the process of updating this publication. This focuses on whether an individual having a Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection increases the chance of diagnoses of any mental illness (includes depression). However, this does not include data relating to the use of antidepressants.

We have also published Coronavirus and depression in adults, Great Britain, however this is not based on medical diagnosis but is based on self-reported depression as part of the Opinions and Lifestyles survey.

The following Health agencies may be better placed to answer your enquiry for each country in the UK:

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