Codeine prescribing across the NHS.
Codeine is the opioid nobody managed to reduce: 5.6m items a year and still edging up while tramadol and fentanyl fall. Its metabolism lottery, from no effect in some patients to too much in others, is pharmacology every prescriber knows and item counts ignore.
The NHS in England dispensed 5,686,121 prescription items of Codeine in the 12 months to July 2026, across primary care and hospitals.
Spending on Codeine over those 12 months was £13.1m at net ingredient cost, the list price of what was dispensed before any discounts.
Items were up 3.4% on the previous 12 months.
86% of Codeine volume moved through primary care and 14% through hospital pharmacies.
Codeine is the largest of 16 chemical substances in Opioid analgesics (BNF 4.7.2), by items dispensed.
Among Integrated Care Boards, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB dispensed the highest volume of Codeine.
Source: NHS Business Services Authority open data (English Prescribing Data and SCMD), OGL v3.0. Items count prescriptions dispensed, not patients treated.
Diamond markers show events around this period: NICE decisions, safety alerts, supply notices, Drug Tariff moves and price concessions, new suppliers in dm+d and framework awards. Hover a marker for the date and type. The evidence behind each one, with the source quote and link, sits behind Apply.
| Month | Items | Spend (NIC) |
|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 501,960 | £1.6m |
| June 2026 | 487,044 | £1.2m |
| May 2026 | 471,185 | £1.1m |
| April 2026 | 484,449 | £1.1m |
| March 2026 | 494,794 | £1.0m |
| February 2026 | 444,015 | £991k |
| January 2026 | 474,861 | £923k |
| December 2025 | 485,739 | £1.0m |
| November 2025 | 441,353 | £930k |
| October 2025 | 485,103 | £1.0m |
| September 2025 | 471,125 | £1.1m |
| August 2025 | 444,493 | £1.0m |
The same series as the chart, most recent month first. The full monthly history, as CSV, sits behind Apply.
25.6% of its class.
Codeine is the largest of 16 chemical substances in Opioid analgesics (BNF 4.7.2), by items dispensed in July 2026. The full class league, who's gaining, and the month-by-month share movement sit behind Apply.
Average items by calendar month across the full history, indexed to the annual mean.
17 suppliers hold a live codeine listing, across 83 packs.
A A H Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Accord-UK Ltd, Alliance Healthcare (Distribution) Ltd, Almus Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Bristol Laboratories Ltd, Crescent Pharma Ltd, Medihealth (Northern) Ltd, Milpharm Ltd, Phoenix Healthcare Distribution Ltd, Pinewood Healthcare, Relonchem Ltd, Sigma Pharmaceuticals Plc, Special Order, Sun Pharma UK Ltd, Teva UK Ltd, Thornton & Ross Ltd, Wockhardt UK Ltd. In the last twelve months 0 packs were listed and 1 discontinued. Every pack, its GTIN and published list price, and each week's changes are in the full report.
A listing in the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices means a product may be supplied. It says nothing about sales or market share, and the list price is the reimbursement price, not what any buyer pays. Contains information from dm+d 10.1.0, published by the NHS Business Services Authority under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
1,399,629 people in England had at least one codeine item prescribed in primary care in 2025/26, 4.0 items each. Source: NHSBSA Dependency-Forming Medicines, England, official statistics, OGL v3.0. Identified patients only.
Codeine across all 36 ICBs.
Every Integrated Care Board in England, shaded by how much codeine its GPs dispense per head of population. Hover an ICB to name it. The ranked figures for all 36 ICBs, and the drill-down to practice level, are in the full report.
Darker shading marks where Codeine is dispensed most per head of population. Exact figures for every ICB, and the drill-down to practice level, are in the full report.
Zoomed out to the 7 NHS regions.
The same 12 months rolled up to NHS England's seven regions, ranked by intensity.
The teaser view.
Three rows each. The full 36-ICB view, every prescribing organisation, every strength and the hospital picture sit below the fold, behind Apply.
- 1 NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB 996k
- 2 NHS Greater Manchester ICB 341k
- 3 NHS West Yorkshire ICB 304k
- – + 33 more. See the full 36-ICB table. See all →
- 1 NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB +8.9%
- 2 NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB +8.6%
- 3 NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB +8.4%
- – + 33 more. See every ICB, ranked. See all →
- 1 Codeine 30mg tablets 61%
- 2 Codeine 15mg tablets 38%
- 3 Codeine 60mg tablets 1%
- – + 3 more. See every strength and pack. See all →
Split of items across NHSBSA primary care and SCMD hospital dispensing.
Prescribing by deprivation.
Items per 1,000 registered patients by deprivation decile (1 = most deprived), practice deprivation weighted by where each practice's patients live. Read the shape rather than the absolute level: the most and least deprived deciles cover far fewer practices, and age structure drives much of the gradient.
The devolved nations.
| Nation | Items · 12 months | Data to |
|---|---|---|
| England | 5.7m | July 2026 |
| Scotland | 382k | June 2026 |
| Northern Ireland | 95k | May 2026 |
| Wales | 243k | April 2026 |
Each nation publishes its own community prescribing data, with different coding and list rules, so read these per-nation rather than as an exact UK total. Sources: NHSBSA (England), Public Health Scotland, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, OpenDataNI. Used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What open data won't tell you about codeine.
Over-the-counter codeine combinations sit outside this data, so total population exposure runs well above what this line shows.
Asked and answered.
Is codeine prescribing rising or falling in the NHS?
Rising. England dispensed 5,686,121 items of Codeine in the 12 months to July 2026, up 3.4% on the previous 12 months. Items count prescriptions dispensed, not patients treated, so the change can reflect dose and duration shifts as well as patient numbers.
How much does the NHS spend on codeine?
£13.1m at net ingredient cost in the 12 months to July 2026. Net ingredient cost is the list price of the medicine before discounts and rebates; the NHS's final bill, especially for hospital medicines, is usually lower.
Where in England is codeine prescribed most?
By raw volume, NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB dispensed the most codeine in the last 12 months. Raw volume favours the biggest populations; the map on this page shades every ICB by items per head to correct for that.
How up to date is this data?
This page runs to July 2026, the most recent NHSBSA release. Prescribing data publishes roughly six to eight weeks in arrears, and DoseTrend refreshes within 48 hours of each monthly release.
The full breakdown.
Every ICB, every prescribing organisation, every strength, the hospital view with what trusts paid and who holds each framework line, Signals with their sources, and the monthly briefing PDF. The rows below are placeholders; the real tables sit behind the application.
Related pages.
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