Americans shelled out an estimated $71 billion for weight-loss drugs in 2023 - that is as much as the U.S. government disbursed in foreign aid the same year, according to ForeignAssistance.gov.
Researchers say that sum marks a more than 500 percent increase in GLP-1 class drugs from 2018 to 2023, with spending in 2018 just under $14 billion. The greatest rate of growth — reported at 62 percent — occurred between 2022 and 2023, as Ozempic garnered interest on social media.
