[holding answer 18 February 2008]: Information is not held on (a) the number of people who have taken anabolic steroids since 1997. The number of prescription items for anabolic steroids which were dispensed in the community in England are contained in table 1 and shows steady decline over the last 10 years.
Estimates on (b) the proportion of 16-59 year olds in England and Wales who have taken anabolic steroids for non-medical reasons are available from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and are included in table 2 which also shows a decline in use since 1996 when questions were first included in the survey.
Total items (Thousand) 1997 10.637 1998 9.016 1999 7.519 2000 6.083 2001 4.933 2002 2.735 2003 1.566 2004 1.435 2005 1.25 2006 0.98 Source: Information Centre for Health and Social Care
BCS Anabolic steroids Unweighted base 1996 0.3 10,741 1998 0.3 9,884 2000 0.2 12,771 2001-02 0.1 19,973 2002-03 0.1 23,357 2003-04 0.1 24,197 2004-05 0.1 28,206 2005-06 0.1 29,631 2006-07 0.1 28,975