Entry title: Primary care antibiotic use Last updated on Thursday, 28 May 2026 at 04:00pm
This page provides information on antibiotic use in primary care settings in England.
Contents Overview Overview Antibiotic prescribing and antibiotic resistance are inextricably linked, as overuse and incorrect use of antibiotics are major drivers of resistance. This dashboard presents publicly available data intended to raise awareness of antibiotic prescribing patterns and to inform ongoing and developing antimicrobial stewardship efforts.
The data include general practice, out-of-hours services, other community settings, dental care, and the Pharmacy First service.
Total antibiotic consumption in Primary Care Defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID)
For month ending 31 Dec 2025
13.4
Year-on-Year monthly change (%) Change from the same month in the previous year
For month ending 31 Dec 2025
-3.7%
Access antibiotics (%)
For month ending 31 Dec 2025
70.9%
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Antibiotic use in Primary Care (England total) data for rate of antibiotic use by primary care setting (DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID)
Up to and including 31 December 2025
Date Total 12-month rolling avg. 13.38 12.03 11.93 12.07 12.36 12.17 11.59 12.21 10.22 12.22 11.40 12.29 11.32 12.38 11.24 12.46 11.82 12.61 12.15 12.78 13.12 12.89 13.83 13.00 13.90 13.09 13.08 13.12 12.88 13.21 11.66 13.22 11.11 13.27 12.48 13.35 12.18 13.31 13.06 13.37 13.85 13.34 13.52 13.23 14.47 13.33 14.86 13.38 14.29 13.46 14.11 13.82 13.03 13.88 12.27 13.91 12.13 13.94 12.01 13.92 12.87 13.96 12.69 13.96 12.50 13.96 14.78 13.98 14.99 13.90 15.81 13.73 18.62 13.48 14.81 13.13 13.43 13.11 12.58 13.13 11.99 13.21 12.47 13.18 12.80 13.18 12.69 13.15 12.82 13.02 13.74 12.92 13.00 12.78 12.77 12.70 14.48 12.63 14.62 12.46 13.61 12.26 13.49 12.15 11.72 12.09 12.43 12.01 12.45 11.96 11.07 11.91 11.64 11.92 12.12 12.06 11.96 12.29 11.93 12.50 12.43 12.82 12.25 13.06 12.38 13.25 12.74 13.41 10.78 13.45 11.77 13.63 11.83 13.75 11.24 13.85 13.35 14.04 14.82 14.08 14.46 14.02 15.78 14.09 15.30 14.12 14.51 14.06 14.30 14.06 13.20 14.08 12.98 14.08 13.28 14.08 12.97 14.07 13.49 14.13 13.87 14.16 14.10 14.21 15.32 14.31 16.12 14.37 14.57 14.49
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Total antibiotic use in Primary Care (GPs) data for rate of antibiotic use by primary care setting (DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID))
Up to and including 31 December 2025
12.31 10.99 11.41 10.64 9.32 10.35 10.36 10.35 10.91 11.24 12.16 12.92 12.95 12.21 12.01 10.83 10.29 11.60 11.35 12.21 13.03 12.73 13.69 14.28 13.71 13.51 12.46 11.71 11.57 11.44 12.27 12.12 11.96 14.13 14.36 15.19 18.00 14.16 12.82 11.96 11.40 11.87 12.16 12.04 12.20 13.03 12.30 12.13 13.79 13.92 12.96 12.80 11.08 11.76 11.75 10.39 10.93 11.35 11.22 11.22 11.62 11.46 11.58 11.94 10.06 10.93 10.95 10.48 12.66 14.18 13.85 15.16 14.69 13.90 13.68 12.59 12.40 12.67 12.37 12.87 13.27 13.47 14.69 15.49 13.95
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Total antibiotic use in Primary Care (Dentists) data for rate of antibiotic use by primary care setting (DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID))
Up to and including 31 December 2025
0.57 0.54 0.56 0.57 0.49 0.54 0.54 0.52 0.53 0.52 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.55 0.51 0.56 0.53 0.55 0.57 0.55 0.59 0.59 0.58 0.60 0.57 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.60 0.58 0.54 0.65 0.63 0.62 0.63 0.65 0.61 0.63 0.59 0.59 0.63 0.65 0.62 0.71 0.70 0.64 0.69 0.70 0.65 0.69 0.64 0.67 0.70 0.67 0.71 0.76 0.74 0.71 0.81 0.79 0.80 0.81 0.73 0.84 0.88 0.77 0.69 0.63 0.61 0.62 0.61 0.62 0.62 0.61 0.58 0.61 0.60 0.61 0.60 0.62 0.63 0.64 0.62
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Total antibiotic use in Primary Care (Pharmacies) data for rate of antibiotic use by primary care setting (DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID))
Up to and including 31 December 2025
0.50 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.41 0.51 0.42 0.37 0.38 0.40 0.41 0.36 0.40 0.32 0.30 0.28 0.31 0.32 0.29 0.29 0.26 0.23 0.19
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Access antibiotics data for rate of Access antibiotics use in Primary Care (Defined Daily Doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID))
Up to and including 31 December 2025
9.49 8.32 8.57 7.93 6.96 7.79 7.70 7.63 8.09 8.33 9.11 9.66 9.84 9.10 8.90 7.90 7.47 8.49 8.26 8.89 9.47 9.36 10.07 10.45 10.11 9.86 9.03 8.33 8.24 8.16 8.71 8.62 8.50 10.21 10.40 11.13 13.44 10.27 9.21 8.47 8.01 8.40 8.56 8.46 8.55 9.18 8.61 8.51 9.85 9.89 9.21 8.93 7.65 8.11 8.06 7.06 7.30 7.59 7.48 7.57 7.95 7.77 7.90 8.17 6.83 7.43 7.49 7.07 8.48 9.52 9.30 10.26 10.14 9.43 9.22 8.37 8.18 8.41 8.11 8.41 8.76 8.88 9.77 10.40 9.39 9.24 9.18 8.22 8.06 8.17 8.46 8.63 8.93 9.62 10.21 11.34
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Watch Antibiotics data for rate of Watch antibiotics use in Primary Care (Defined Daily Doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID))
Up to and including 31 December 2025
3.88 3.60 3.77 3.65 3.25 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.71 3.81 4.00 4.15 4.04 3.97 3.97 3.75 3.63 3.97 3.91 4.15 4.36 4.14 4.38 4.40 4.15 4.23 3.99 3.92 3.87 3.82 4.14 4.06 3.98 4.55 4.57 4.67 5.17 4.52 4.20 4.09 3.96 4.05 4.22 4.21 4.25 4.54 4.37 4.25 4.61 4.71 4.39 4.54 4.05 4.30 4.38 3.99 4.32 4.51 4.46 4.34 4.46 4.45 4.45 4.55 3.94 4.32 4.32 4.15 4.85 5.27 5.14 5.50 5.14 5.06 5.06 4.81 4.77 4.85 4.84 5.05 5.09 5.19 5.52 5.70 5.16 5.30 5.34 4.95 4.89 4.92 5.18 5.27 5.45 5.61 5.83 6.20
Chart Tabular Data Download Chart Tabular data Reserve Antibiotics data for rate of Reserve antibiotics use in Primary Care (Defined Daily Doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID))
Up to and including 31 December 2025
0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02