The number of community pharmacies in Northern Ireland has hit its lowest number in a decade, new data has revealed.
According to an annual statistics report published today, Northern Ireland had 506 community pharmacies at the end of 2025/26.
This is a reduction of two compared to the year before, and 27 fewer pharmacies than were counted in 2015/16.
Read more: Some 73% of people would visit a pharmacy over GP, NI survey finds
The report found that over the last ten years, pharmacy numbers have fallen in all but one of Northern Ireland’s five Health Trust areas.
The Western Trust has retained the 98 pharmacies that were open in 2015/16, while Belfast local commissioning group has seen the largest decline with a reduction of 11 pharmacies over the same period.
Read more: Govt invests £42m in electronic prescriptions for Northern Ireland
Pharmacy numbers have also declined in all but one of the country’s 11 local government districts since 2015/16.
The only growth was seen in Fermanagh and Omagh, where the number of pharmacies increased by one, to 46 pharmacies.
Lisburn and Castlereagh saw the biggest drop of any district, with three fewer pharmacies than a decade ago.
Record dispensing
The report also noted that there were 46.4 million items dispensed in Northern Ireland in 2025/26, the “highest figure on record”.
Antidepressants were dispensed to over a quarter of the country’s female population, compared to just 16% of males.
And around 96% of those aged 65 or over in Northern Ireland received at least one prescription item.
Read more: Exclusive: 1,060 pharmacies sign up to Daffodil standards
It comes after a survey by Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland found that 73% of people would choose to visit a pharmacy instead of their GP, compared with two to three years ago.
And it follows the UK government investing £42m in an “ePharmacy programme” that will see the launch of electronic prescriptions in Northern Ireland.
