OZEMPIC and other similar medications used to fight diabetes accounted for the single largest medical expenditure in Spain’s public health system in 2024.
Ministry of Health data showed that Ozempic and related semaglutide drugs accounted or just over €400m last year.
The total budget for medications was €13.8 billion- up by 4.9% on 2023.
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Expenditure on Ozempic rose by 78% in 2021, 44.5% in 2022 and 42% in 2023.
Though the product has seen sales skyrocket worldwide to its effectiveness against obesity, is not prescribed in Spain’s public health system for weight loss.
The most consumed medication last year was paracetamol with the pain relief and fever-reducing drug selling 60.3 million publicly-funded packages.
The second most prescribed drug was the antacid and gastric protector Omeprazole, with 49.1 million boxes, followed by the analgesic Metamizole, with 29.7 million packages.
Last year, 1,269 new drugs were incorporated into public funding, with an annual increase of 46%.
In 2024, 118 new active ingredients were approved for prescription, of which 39 have orphan drug designation which is intended for the treatment or diagnosis of
Three new advanced therapies were also incorporated into official funding, including gene and cell therapy treatments.
Spain’s health system has 22,557 funded drug presentations, which represents 68.4% of the drugs authorised in Spain.
Almost six out of ten of the products on the list- 57.6%- are generic drugs, reinforcing the role of these cheaper drugs in the efficiency of the system.
The Ministry of Health report also shows that Spain has a very high coverage of pharmacies, with 22,207 offices.
Last year, there was an average of one pharmacy for every 2,189 residents.
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