Users spent more on medications than last year

In the first eight months of the year, users of the National Health Service (SNS) in Portugal spent over 650 million euros on medications, marking a 15.3 million euro increase compared to the previous year. The average expenditure per user was 4.71 euros per medication, with nearly 139 million packages dispensed. The SNS's total expenditure on medication reimbursement reached over 1.338 billion euros, an increase of 98.1 million euros from the same period in 2025. Antidiabetic medications accounted for the highest costs, with a notable increase in spending on semaglutide. Generic medications made up over half of the dispensed units, although their market share has slightly decreased. The report does not include all contributions from agreements with the pharmaceutical industry, which will reduce the total costs for the SNS.