Everyday medicines like paracetamol are up to 30% more expensive in England, according to the National Pharmacy Association, which represents 6,000 community chemists nationwide. The price rises, which have been climbing since February, now affect common painkillers and allergy treatments, with pharmacists reporting a similar jump for cetirizine tablets used by hay fever sufferers.
The conflict in Iran, now approaching its eighth week, has created a cascade of cost increases that are hitting both patients buying over the counter and the NHS. Chemists themselves are paying between 40% and 50% more to restock their shelves, and some have been unable to obtain certain strengths of aspirin and co-codamol, forcing customers to seek alternatives during what should be routine purchases.
Olivier Picard, chair of the NPA, described the volatility he experienced at his Berkshire pharmacy. On 27 March he found himself unable to order paracetamol at all. When supplies returned a few days later, “the [wholesale] price had doubled.” The wholesale cost of a 100-pack of 500mg paracetamol tablets leapt from 41p before the conflict to £1.99 by late March, before settling at £1.09. Customers are seeing the impact at the counter: one pharmacy raised the price of a 32-tablet pack from £1.19 to £1.50.
Cetirizine has followed a similar trajectory. Wholesale costs for a 30-tablet pack have nearly doubled from 19p to 37p, with some distributors charging as much as £3. With peak hay fever season approaching in May and June, further increases may follow. Picard urged customers not to stockpile, warning that such behaviour would only worsen shortages and inflate prices further.
Supply chain crisis: how the conflict reaches the medicine cabinet
The disruption to global logistics has hit pharmacies particularly hard. Air freight costs have doubled since hostilities began — a significant concern given that one in five NHS medicines arrives by plane. Higher petrol and diesel prices have also increased manufacturing and transport costs for medicine suppliers.
Perhaps most critically, the conflict has choked off supplies of petroleum derivatives from the Gulf region, which are essential raw materials used in manufacturing many household medications. Paracetamol, aspirin and co-codamol all rely on these petrochemical components. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for petrochemicals from the Gulf, has become a major point of tension, with experts warning of further price increases and shortages if it remains closed or disrupted. Generic drug manufacturers, already operating on razor-thin margins, have been forced to pass on these increased costs.
The UK imports approximately 75% of its medicines. India, often referred to as the “pharmacy of the world,” is also heavily reliant on supplies from the Gulf, making it vulnerable to the same disruptions. The UK has experienced previous supply shocks over the last 12 to 18 months, and current stockpiles provide only a temporary buffer.
For community pharmacies, the financial strain is acute. Some are dispensing medicines at a loss because paracetamol and cetirizine are not included on the government’s price concessions list — a mechanism that permits higher reimbursement rates from the NHS for certain drugs. In March 2026, a record 230 medicines appeared on that list, compared with just 90 items during the same month last year. The number of price concessions has reached a three-year high, with 174 granted in February 2026 and 197 in March 2026, some involving an eight-fold price rise. Blood pressure medications, antidepressants, anxiety treatments and painkillers such as codeine and co-codamol all feature. Yet paracetamol remains excluded, despite 1.3 million packs being prescribed monthly across England.
Pharmacy closures and warnings of worse to come
The financial pressure is driving a wave of pharmacy closures that predates the conflict but is now accelerating. Since 2020, 1,400 pharmacies have shut their doors, with one or two closing each week. Data from January 2025 indicates that an average of four pharmacies closed each week in England during 2024, and 700 have closed since 2022 alone. Further closures are feared due to the phasing out of business rate discounts.
Mark Samuels, chief executive of Medicines UK, offered a sobering assessment of the broader risk: “If the conflict continues, we will inevitably see rising prices or shortages of essential medicines. This could be as soon as the next few weeks.” While immediate widespread shortages have not yet materialised because of existing stockpiles, he warned that rising transport costs and chemical shortages pose a significant threat if the conflict persists. The UK’s low-price environment for generic medicines is making the market unattractive to manufacturers, potentially leading to reduced supply or withdrawal from the market altogether.