The most used non-prescription and prescription drugs in Norway in 2023 are all recurring since 2022.
| Substance (example of pharmaceutical) | DDD (per inhabitant) | % Change |
| 1. Atorvastatin (Lipitor) | 49.1 | 5.5 % |
| 2. Acetylsalicylic acid (Albyl-E) | 19.5 | - 2.9 % |
| 3. Kandesartan (Atacand) | 17.7 | 7.0 % |
| 4. Paracetamol (Paracet) | 15.7 | 1.5 % |
| 5. Amlodipin (Norvasc) | 15.1 | 3.8 % |
| 6. Kolekalsiferol (Divisun) | 13.8 | 10.6 % |
| 7. Pantoprazol (Somac) | 13.3 | 2.2 % |
| 8. Desloratadin (Aerius) | 13.1 | 8.0 % |
| 9. Cetirizin (Zyrtec) | 12.9 | 1.6 % |
| 10. Folic acid (Folsyre) | 11.1 | 1.1 % |
(Figure: Medicines with highest DDD per inhabitant)
DDD per inhabitant
The use of prescription drugs (DDD per inhabitant) has increased over the last years. The increase can partly be explained by an increasingly elderly population. Older people use significantly more drugs than younger people. In 2023 the DDD per inhabitant was 608. That is an increase by 4,4 % from 2022.
Defined Daily Dose (DDD) is an international unit of measurement for the assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults. We use DDD to compare consumption over time and DDD per inhabitant when we arrange the top substances.