DHSC has published information on community pharmacy margins, and the the total number of items dispensed in the community in England in each of the last five financial years broken down by English dispenser account type (includes dispensing GPs in England).
This was in response to a written question by Lord Rogan of the Ulster Unionist party.
The response was as follows:
| England only | Community Pharmacy | |
| Average margin per item (£) | Prescription items (m) | |
| 2017/18 | £0.79 | 1013 |
| 2018/19 | £0.62 | 1015 |
| 2019/20 | £0.72 | 1036 |
| 2020/21 | £0.96 | 1017 |
| 2021/22 | £0.89 | 1043 |
These figures do not include remuneration for the pharmacy service.
In terms of dispensing volumes (item numbers), the figures supplied are as follows:
| Dispenser Account Type | 2017/2018 | 2018/2019 | 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 | 2021/2022 |
| English Appliance Contractor | 8,627,910 | 9,043,637 | 9,787,035 | 10,020,141 | 10,908,020 |
| English Dispensing Doctor | 69,672,685 | 70,368,215 | 72,024,656 | 70,530,057 | 72,082,457 |
| English Personal Administration | 14,829,104 | 14,606,249 | 14,468,189 | 13,180,273 | 13,231,305 |
| English Pharmacy Contractor | 1,013,292,403 | 1,015,065,205 | 1,035,763,855 | 1,016,856,763 | 1,043,054,789 |
| Total | 1,106,422,102 | 1,109,083,306 | 1,132,043,735 | 1,110,587,234 | 1,139,276,571 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority