Reading a Wegovy weight loss chart: what the trial numbers mean for you

Step 1, Locate yourself on the titration ladder, not the plateau

Most Wegovy weight-loss charts begin at week zero and end somewhere between week 68 and week 72. The first thing to notice is that the early weeks show almost no movement. That is by design. Treatment opens at 0.25mg, a dose whose job is to let your body adjust to the medicine, not to drive weight change. Significant reduction tends to appear from around week 8 onwards, as the dose climbs through 0.5mg and 1mg toward 1.7mg and then 2.4mg. The practical takeaway: if you are three or four weeks in and the scale has barely shifted, that matches exactly what the Wegovy chart shows week by week, it is the titration phase, not a sign the medicine is not working.

Prescribers step doses up roughly every four weeks, and the Wegovy dosing chart covers that schedule in detail. Understanding where you sit on that ladder puts the weight-loss curve in its proper context, and if you want to see exactly how each semaglutide dose maps to expected weight loss at each stage, our semaglutide dosing chart for weight loss lays that out clearly. One habit worth building: note your starting weight on the day treatment begins. Even a rough note in your phone takes under a minute and gives you a personal baseline that makes the curve meaningful rather than abstract.

Step 2, Understand what the 15% average actually represents

The STEP 1 trial randomised 1,961 adults with obesity or overweight plus at least one weight-related condition, all without type 2 diabetes, over 68 weeks. Average weight loss at the 2.4mg maintenance dose was around 15%, compared with roughly 2.4% for those on placebo alongside the same lifestyle support. The full STEP 1 data, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show the distribution around that average: some participants lost substantially more, others less. A chart line that sits at 15% at week 68 is the midpoint of a spread, not a ceiling or a guarantee.

It is also worth knowing the curve is not smooth. Most people see a steeper slope in the first 16–20 weeks, a slightly shallower gradient through the middle of treatment, and then a plateau or very gentle continuation toward the end. That flattening is normal physiology, not failure. For a broader picture of what semaglutide does in the body, the Wegovy weight loss overview fills in the mechanism without repeating what the chart alone shows.

Step 3, Factor in the 2026 data at 7.2mg

Charts based on the original 2.4mg trials were the only reference point for several years. That changed when the MHRA approved a 7.2mg maintenance dose in January 2026, and then, on 14 April 2026, approved a dedicated single-dose 7.2mg pen. Trial data at this higher dose reported average weight loss of around 20.7% over 72 weeks, which brings semaglutide's curve meaningfully closer to that seen with tirzepatide in the SURMOUNT programme. The MHRA's announcement of the 7.2mg single-dose pen approval sets out the authorisation in full. The 7.2mg licence is for adults with BMI 30 or above; eligibility for a specific dose is confirmed during clinical assessment, not assumed from a chart.

If you are reviewing older Wegovy weight-loss charts online, check the date. Charts built on pre-2026 trial data will not reflect the 7.2mg trajectory. For a side-by-side view of how the semaglutide dosing steps map onto weight-loss progression, our semaglutide chart comparing doses and outcomes brings both datasets together. A note on what is not captured in any chart: the lifestyle component. Every STEP trial participant received dietary counselling and physical activity guidance alongside the medicine. The chart line includes that support; the medicine alone was not studied in isolation.

Step 4, Know when a chart stops being useful

A population chart is a planning tool, not a progress report. If your own trajectory diverges from the published average after several months on the maintenance dose, that is a conversation for your prescriber, not a reason to change anything independently. Wegovy is a prescription-only medicine, and decisions about dose timing, duration and what a plateau means for your treatment are clinical ones. The NHS patient information for semaglutide covers the points at which a prescriber would typically review whether treatment is achieving what it should.

Cost is a practical consideration that shapes whether someone stays on treatment long enough to reach the parts of the curve that matter most. The Wegovy pricing page sets out what private treatment typically involves. For anyone wondering whether Wegovy fits their situation at all, the weight-loss treatment overview covers eligibility thresholds and what a clinical assessment involves. Treatment through a GPhC-registered pharmacy like our pharmacy begins with a free consultation reviewed personally by a prescriber, check your eligibility and start that conversation when you are ready.