PHARMACIST registration numbers surpassed the 35,000 mark for the first time in the three months to Mar 2021, data from the Pharmacy Board of Australia reveals.
However, despite the record number of registrants (35,182, an increase of 260 on Dec 2020) the Board figures show a decline in the number holding general registration (down by 81 to 32,313) after three years of growth.
While there were reductions in the number of both male and female pharmacists with general registration there was a higher proportion of men (71) dropping it than women (10).
The latest Board numbers revealed a nominal decline in the number of pharmacists aged 25 to 29 years who held general registration, while the numbers of general registrants over the age of 65 fell for the first time since Mar 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
However, the number of octogenarians with general registration (257) remains close to Dec's all time high of 269.
The Board's Emergency Pandemic Register also fell a fraction, from 1,936 in Dec 2020 to 1,933 in the latest quarterly results.
Having jumped slightly in the Dec 2020 period (to 1,118), the number of non-practising registrants slipped back to 1,070 - well down on the record high of 1,354 seen in Dec 2019.
The profession's gender balance has remained just shy of being two female pharmacists for every male, with the ACT having the highest ratio of female registrants (66.7%), while Tasmania had the highest proportion of male pharmacists registered with the Board (38.7%).
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 27 Jul 21
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