The NHS bill for prescription drugs has risen by almost 7% in a year, official figures reveal.
Statistics show the total, or net, cost to the Scottish Government hit £1.3 billion in 2015/16.
This represents an increase of 6.9% compared to the final sum recorded in 2014/15.
Over the last decade, the bill for medication and other items dispensed in the community has gone up by 28%, the data reveals.
The last year has also seen an increase in the total number of products dispensed.
Some 102.2 million items were issued in 2015/16, up by just more than 1% on 2014/15.
Prescribing volumes have been increasing year on year, with an overall rise of 28.1% from 79.8 million items in 2006/07 to 102.2 million in 2015/16.
The report stated: “This growth reflects not only the availability of new or more effective medicines, but also prescription processing and demographic changes, and the implementation of new clinical guidelines and recommendations.”
The figures are contained in an annual report published by ISD Scotland.
It centres around medication and other items issued under prescription in local communities, mainly by pharmacies and dispensing doctors.
The report does not cover prescriptions dispensed in hospitals, which fall under a separate budget.
The net cost to the Government is the bill for reimbursing and remunerating pharmacies, and other dispensers, minus any charges paid by patients.
