Summary of GLP‑1 adoption trends in Europe
- GLP‑1 uptake in Europe remains far lower than US levels
- Consumer scepticism across Europe limits weight‑loss drug use despite rising awareness
- Public healthcare coverage constraints slow adoption compared with commercially driven US
- Even optimistic scenarios predict only modest calorie‑intake reductions across Europe
- Gradual destigmatisation suggests slow growth but limited long‑term market disruption
GLP-1 receptor agonists have seen far greater traction in the US than in Europe.
Uptake of the drugs is already at around 12% in the US, according to the Dutch bank ING. However, in the EU and UK, it’s roughly 2%.
In January, we asked if 2026 might be the year when GLP-1s go big in Europe. There are signs that it could be the case. But there are still a number of things holding back uptake of the drugs.
Many European consumers are sceptical
GLP-1 drugs have had varied uptake in Europe. They have seen strong traction in Germany and are driving cultural change in the UK, but elsewhere, uptake is still low and scepticism is still high.
In France, while 2% of people are using GLP-1s according to consumer analytics company Mintel, this use is still mostly restricted to treatment for diabetes. Only 7% of French consumers believe that they would be a good tool for weight loss.
GLP-1s have begun to influence the food landscape in Spain, but their uptake is limited. According to Mintel, only 6% of consumers believe they are a good tool for weight loss.
Meanwhile, GLP-1s are ‘not yet a topic’ in Italy, according to Giulia Scalbi, associate principal at Mintel. In fact, only 5% of Italian consumers believe that obesity drugs are good routes through which to lose weight.
Scepticism in Europe is, in part, driven by European consumers’ preference for lifestyle changes over medical solutions to solve health problems, suggests Jonny Forsyth, principal strategist for food and drink at Mintel.
European consumers are also more sceptical of corporate messaging, he suggests. In Europe, “many consumers have an in-built scepticism of companies’ agenda and new ways of doing things, especially in France and Italy”.
European healthcare systems vs US system
In Europe, access to drugs comes through public healthcare systems far more prominently than in the US, meaning that uptake often depends more on whether these systems provide coverage.
The difference between uptake in Europe and the US “boils down to the way US and European societies are structured so differently”, says Mintel’s Forsyth.
“In Europe, new medications and health treatments are approved first by governments or public institutions and only when they’ve received the green light, are companies able to fully commercialise them.”
Meanwhile, things are more commercially driven in the US, with less stringent regulation.
In the US, points out ING’s Geijer, consumers are more used to paying a lot for drugs, with drug prices frequently being high, although a “sizeable share” of European households can afford the drugs.
Nevertheless, to get to high adoption in Europe, coverage of these drugs on health services will need to increase. Once health services have started drug reimbursement to consumers for GLP-1s, it becomes very hard to roll this back, Geijer points out.
Some European countries have more room within their budgets to provide such coverage than others. Added to this, different countries have different levels of both obesity and type-2 diabetes.
Health services in some countries – the UK, France and the Netherlands, for example – have introduced a certain level of coverage of the drugs.
Could GLP-1 adoption increase?
Food and drink companies must watch the progress of GLP-1 drugs closely. Yet they are still a minority pursuit.
In ING’s research, it predicted that in almost any potential future, GLP-1 uptake will remain a minority. Europe, because of the factors above, remains a market where adoption is lower than in the US.
In the scenario of most radical change, ING predicts, GLP-1 drugs will reduce total calorie intake of 2.5-3.5%. This is still a very small part of total consumption. However, along with GLP-1 drugs, ageing populations may reduce the demand for food.
If companies cannot adapt production capacity to new levels of demand, suggests Geijer, they may find themselves with more capacity than is necessary.
Meanwhile, European consumers are “without doubt” becoming less sceptical of the drugs, says Forsyth, as they become “more socially acceptable and people start to discuss their usage more openly”.
Positive coverage in the media has also reduced the stigma around the drugs, which “makes them feel safer and more the ‘norm’, than something which is new, frightening and potentially problematic”.
Penetration is only rising gradually – in the UK, for example, it rose from 6% in 2025 to 7% in early 2026 – but it is nevertheless rising.
GLP-1s are unlikely to pose an existential threat, and the implications for European food and beverage are not devastating. Nonetheless, use is still expanding and in the future, they could make a more sizable dent on food consumption than they currently are.