How Much Weight Do You Lose on Wegovy Tablets?

Written by the ClariDay clinical team. Medically reviewed by Ali Salih, GPhC-registered Pharmacist Independent Prescriber.

Reviewed 20 July 2026. Next review 20 August 2026 (results and availability content is checked monthly while this medicine is new).

Every clinical claim on this page is sourced to a UK regulator, a peer-reviewed trial, or an official product source, listed in full at the end.

In the tablet's main trial, OASIS 4, adults on the 25mg Wegovy pill lost an average of 13.6% of their body weight over 64 weeks, against 2.2% on placebo [1]. Among those who took it as intended, the average was 16.6% [2]. For someone of 100kg (about 15 stone 10lb), that is roughly 13.6kg, close to 2 stone 2lb. The Wegovy tablet was licensed by the MHRA on 11 June 2026 and is available in the UK on private prescription [3].

Three things decide what that headline means for you: which of the two figures the press is quoting, what an average can and cannot promise, and how much of the result sits in your own hands.

What is the average weight loss on Wegovy tablets?

Across everyone in the main trial, the average weight loss on the 25mg tablet was 13.6%, compared with 2.2% for people taking a placebo [4]. That trial was OASIS 4: 307 adults with overweight or obesity plus a weight-related health condition, none with type 2 diabetes, followed for 64 weeks, which is about 15 months [4].

The 13.6% is the real-world figure, because it includes people who stopped early, missed doses, or never reached the full strength. It answers the question "if I start this, what happens on average?"

There is a second number you will see more often in headlines. Among the people who took the tablet as intended for the whole trial, the average was 16.6%, against 2.7% on placebo [4]. Neither figure is wrong. They answer slightly different questions, and most coverage leads with the higher one. When you read "16.6%", read it as "the result when everything goes to plan", and when you read "13.6%", read it as "the result across all comers".

What does that look like in kg and stone?

The same percentage becomes a very different number of kilograms depending on where you start. At 90kg (14 stone 2lb), a 13.6% average is about 12kg, close to 2 stone; at 110kg (17 stone 5lb) it is about 15kg, nearer 2 stone 5lb. Here is the fuller picture across a range of starting weights, for both trial averages. These are illustrations, not a promise for any one person.

Starting weight	13.6% (average across everyone)	16.6% (took it as intended)
80kg (about 12st 8lb)	about 11kg, close to 1st 10lb	about 13kg, close to 2st 1lb
90kg (about 14st 2lb)	about 12kg, close to 1st 13lb	about 15kg, close to 2st 5lb
100kg (about 15st 10lb)	about 13.6kg, close to 2st 2lb	about 16.6kg, close to 2st 9lb
110kg (about 17st 5lb)	about 15kg, close to 2st 5lb	about 18kg, close to 2st 12lb
120kg (about 18st 13lb)	about 16kg, close to 2st 8lb	about 20kg, close to 3st 2lb

The heavier you start, the more kilograms sit behind the same percentage, so two people who both lose 13.6% can see very different figures on the scales.

How many people lose a large amount of weight?

Close to three in ten people in OASIS 4 lost at least a fifth of their body weight: 29.7% across the whole group, and 34.4% among those who took the tablet as intended, against roughly three in a hundred on placebo [5]. Averages smooth over a wide spread, and this is how the trial group fanned out at the top end.

That is a meaningful share reaching a result many would find substantial. It also means most people landed somewhere below that mark, and a minority saw only modest change. A realistic expectation is a solid double-digit percentage for many people, with a real chance of much more, and no guarantee for any individual.

Do the tablets work as well as the injection?

Broadly yes, they land in the same range. The 2.4mg Wegovy injection was tested in its own large trial, STEP 1, where people lost an average of 14.9% of their body weight over 68 weeks [6]. The tablet's 13.6% to 16.6% sits either side of that, Novo Nordisk reported the tablet's results as comparable with the injection [2], and an indirect comparison of the two reached the same conclusion [7].

There is a limit to that comparison. The tablet and the injection have never been put head to head, in the same people at the same time. So the fair statement is that the tablet produces results in the same broad range as the injection, not that it has been shown to equal it. If you are weighing up the two forms, we go through the trade-offs in how the tablet compares with the injection.

What affects how much you lose?

The dose you reach is the biggest single factor. The 13.6% and 16.6% figures are for the full 25mg strength, which you build up to gradually over several months rather than starting on. The step-by-step plan is set out in the 1.5mg to 25mg dose schedule. If side effects mean you settle at a lower dose, it is reasonable to expect a smaller effect.

How you take it counts for more with the tablet than with the injection. Only a small fraction of each tablet is absorbed, and only on an empty stomach, so how much medicine reaches your blood depends closely on the routine, and that exposure tracks with how much weight comes off [8]. Taken with food or too little water, far less gets in. The empty-stomach fasting rule is the quiet difference between the tablet working as designed and underperforming. The tablet is the easy part; the 30-minute wait is the part that decides how well it works.

Diet, activity and sleep shape the picture too, as with any weight-loss medicine, though the dose you reach and the fasting routine are the two levers specific to this tablet.

Why your result may differ from the trial

Read the trial figures with their limits in view. Trial participants are closely supported, tend to follow the routine to the letter, and are reviewed regularly. Everyday results are often more modest, and an average is never a forecast for any one person, who may land above it or below.

There is a signal that keeping to the routine pays off. In a study of people fasting during Ramadan, those who stuck to the fasting instructions lost roughly twice as much as those who did not, about 3.2kg against 1.6kg over 20 weeks [9], though that was in people with type 2 diabetes at lower doses, so read it as a direction of travel rather than a precise promise.

Side effects, who the tablet suits, and who should avoid it are a separate question from how much weight comes off. In brief, gastrointestinal effects such as nausea are the most common and are usually mild and short-lived, but the full picture belongs on our results-and-side-effects guide rather than here. If you are checking whether the tablet is right for you, that is a conversation for a prescriber.

From the clinic Most patients ask me about the 16.6%. It is a real figure, but it describes people who kept to the tablet for fifteen months inside a trial, and it is an average, so plenty of them did better and plenty did worse. What patients are rarely told is that with this tablet the dose in the packet is not the dose in your blood. Only 1 to 2% of it is absorbed, and only from an empty stomach. Coffee, breakfast, or a large glass of water, and most of it never gets in. You will not feel that happening. The first sign is a flat scale six weeks later. So when someone comes back disappointed, my first question is not about portion sizes or willpower. It is what time they took it, and how long they waited before their first drink. Ali Salih, GPhC-registered Pharmacist Independent Prescriber

The bottom line

For most people on the full 25mg dose, a year on the tablet means weight loss in the low-to-mid teens as a percentage: around 13.6% on average across everyone in the main trial, or 16.6% among those who kept to it, with close to a third losing at least a fifth of their weight [1, 2, 5]. For someone starting near 100kg that is roughly 13 to 17kg, about 2 to 2.5 stone. How close you come to the top of that range depends most on reaching the full dose and keeping to the empty-stomach routine.

If you are considering treatment, you can book a consultation with a prescriber to talk through whether an oral GLP-1 medicine is a sensible option for you.

Frequently asked questions

How much weight can you lose on Wegovy tablets?

In the OASIS 4 trial, adults on the 25mg tablet lost an average of 13.6% of their body weight over 64 weeks, versus 2.2% on placebo [1]. Among those who took it as intended, the average was 16.6% [2]. For someone starting at 100kg, 13.6% is roughly 13.6kg, close to 2 stone 2lb.

Is 16.6% or 13.6% the "real" figure?

Both are real. The 13.6% is the average across everyone in the trial, including people who stopped early or missed doses. The 16.6% is the average among people who took the tablet as intended throughout [1, 2]. The 13.6% is the more realistic guide to everyday use.

Do Wegovy tablets work as well as the injection?

They land in the same broad range. The 2.4mg injection produced about 14.9% in its own trial, STEP 1 [6], and the tablet's 13.6% to 16.6% sits either side of that. The two have not been compared directly in the same trial, so the fair statement is "same range", not "proven equal" [2, 7].

How long does it take to lose the weight?

The OASIS 4 figures are measured over 64 weeks, so weight loss builds over about 15 months rather than arriving quickly, and it grows as the dose is increased [4]. How fast it starts is a separate question we cover elsewhere in the Wegovy tablets guides.

Will I definitely lose this much?

No. These are trial averages, and individuals land above and below them. Your result depends on reaching the full dose, keeping to the empty-stomach routine, and factors like diet and activity [8]. An average is not a forecast for any one person.

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References (APA 7)

[1] Novo Nordisk. (2025, September 17). Novo Nordisk's oral semaglutide 25 mg (Wegovy in a pill) delivered 16.6% weight loss in people with obesity in a newly published study [Press release]. GlobeNewswire. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/17/3152045/0/en/Novo-Nordisk-s-oral-semaglutide-25-mg-Wegovy-in-a-pill-delivered-16-6-weight-loss-in-people-with-obesity-in-a-newly-published-study.html

[2] Novo Nordisk. (2025, September 17). OASIS 4: 16.6% weight loss with oral semaglutide 25 mg (trial-product estimand vs 2.7% placebo); results comparable with injectable Wegovy [Press release]. GlobeNewswire. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/17/3152045/0/en/Novo-Nordisk-s-oral-semaglutide-25-mg-Wegovy-in-a-pill-delivered-16-6-weight-loss-in-people-with-obesity-in-a-newly-published-study.html

[3] Novo Nordisk. (2026, June 11). Wegovy pill (semaglutide tablets) becomes first daily GLP-1 weight-loss pill approved in the UK [Press release]. GlobeNewswire. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/06/11/3310643/0/en/Novo-Nordisk-Wegovy-pill-semaglutide-tablets-becomes-first-daily-GLP-1-weight-loss-pill-approved-in-the-UK.html

[4] Wharton, S., et al. (2025). Oral semaglutide at a dose of 25 mg in adults with overweight or obesity (OASIS 4). New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2500969

[5] Novo Nordisk. (2025, September 17). OASIS 4 responder data: 29.7% / 34.4% lost ≥20% of body weight versus ~3% placebo [Press release]. GlobeNewswire. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/17/3152045/0/en/Novo-Nordisk-s-oral-semaglutide-25-mg-Wegovy-in-a-pill-delivered-16-6-weight-loss-in-people-with-obesity-in-a-newly-published-study.html

[6] Wilding, J. P. H., et al. (2021). Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity (STEP 1). New England Journal of Medicine, 384(11), 989-1002. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183

[7] Semaglutide 25 mg oral versus semaglutide 2.4 mg injectable: An indirect treatment comparison of weight-loss outcomes. (2025). Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.70911

[8] Overgaard, R. V., et al. (2025). Estimated oral semaglutide exposure has distinct relationships with glycaemic response, weight loss and gastrointestinal tolerability. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.70840

[9] Hassanein, M., et al. (2025). Oral semaglutide and adherence to fasting during Ramadan (O-SEMA-FAST). Diabetes Therapy, 16(4), 663-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13300-025-01702-1

Access date for all sources: 20 July 2026.

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This article is general information, not medical advice, and is not a substitute for a consultation with a qualified prescriber.