SNS users spent more than € 650 million on medicines in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 15.3 million over the same period last year. The Infarmed report points to a 2.4% increase in user expenditure and highlights growth in antidiabetic expenditure.
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26/10/2026
by
Lusa
Ousers of the National Health Service (SNS) spent more than 650 million euros on medicines in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 15.3 million over the same period last year.
According to the monitoring report for ambulatory expenditure on medicines of the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed), today reported, the costs of users had an annual increase of 2.4% in this period.
The average expenditure of each user was 4,71 euros per drug, with almost 139 million packages being dispensed between January and August, more 3.6 million more than in the same period.
The document also indicates that the SNS' expenditure on outpatient medicines was more than EUR 1,338 million, an increase of 98.1 million compared to the period from January to August 2025.
The average charge per packaging for the SNS was EUR 9,79, i.e. more than twice the amount borne by users.
Between January and August of this year, the average cost per pack for the SNS rose by 0.47 euros compared to the same period of 2025, says Infarmed, which points to antidiabetics as the most expensive therapeutic class between January and August, with an expenditure of 334.9 million euros for the public health service, which is equivalent to a homologous increase of more than 10%.
Semaglutide, the active substance of anti-diabetic medicines also used for weight loss, was the largest increase in expenditure (+54.5%) in the first eight months of this year for SNS, representing a charge of more than EUR 49 million, plus 17,3 million than in the same period of 2025.
The report also indicates that more than half of the units dispensed were generic medicines, which reached a market share of 50.6%, after reaching 52.2% in recent years.
Infarmed points out that the figures presented in the report do not reflect all the contributions resulting from the implementation of the agreement between the Government and the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Industry Association and financing contracts.
In practice, the total value of public service spending on medicines will be deducted from contributions and returns to the SNS by the pharmaceutical industry.
In the State Budget of 2026, the government planned to save more than EUR 200 million with medicines and medical supplies in the SNS.
In 2025, the SNS spent €1.898.8 million on drug (ambulatory) and €2.523.2 million on hospitals and health centers.
This year, until August, the expenditure was €1.338.5 million in drug participation (ambulatory) and €1828.4 million in hospitals and health centers.