The number of members and fellows renewing their Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) membership this year has plummeted by 14 per cent, figures have revealed.

A total of 28,000 members and fellows decided to stay with the RPS in 2012, down from 32,530 in 2011, while only 16 people decided to join as a pharmaceutical scientist, a new category created by the Society for this year.

"I'm confident we are well-placed to continue to maintain and grow the membership," RPS president Martin Astbury

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Despite the drop in members and fellows, overall RPS membership has risen from 36,977 to 40,695 in 2012, due to a three-fold increase in student members benefitting from free membership, rising from 4,340 to 11,814. The figures, released by the RPS last week, show that 56 per cent of RPS members hail from the community pharmacy sector, while England makes up the lion's share of pharmacists choosing to join the RPS with 78 per cent.

The number of RPS members equates to just over 60 per cent of the 45,486 registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), although the RPS number could include non-registered members such as those who have retired or live overseas.

RPS president Martin Astbury welcomed the membership figures, saying: "The RPS is only in its second full year and it's very encouraging that in these challenging economic times the majority of members have renewed, even though some employers have chosen not to reimburse their pharmacists' membership fees."

"I'm confident we are well-placed to continue to maintain and grow the membership," Mr Astbury added.

The Co-operative Pharmacy decided to axe its contribution to its employees' RPS membership costs this year, while Boots decided to halve its contributions.