Global Cannabis Market – Business Plan Templates Europe

Cannabis use has increased significantly globally over the past two decades. Around 228 million people aged 15 to 64 reported using cannabis, increasing prevalence to 4.4% from an estimated 3.5% in 2000 (UNODC 2024).

In 2025, more than half of the U.S. population lives in states with established models providing access to legal, regulated non-medical cannabis. Combined with legal adult-use access models (commercial sales) in Canada, Uruguay, and Thailand, nearly 300 million people now live in jurisdictions with regulated cannabis markets. Regulated non-profit organizations can now grow and distribute cannabis in Germany and Malta, and four more European countries have either initiated (Switzerland, the Netherlands) or are planning (Czechia, Luxembourg) pilot programs for regulated adult-use cannabis production. To date, nearly 50 countries have fully or partially legalized cannabis for medical and/or recreational use.

Cannabis Legalization World Map

In 2020, global cannabis sales reached $20.3 billion, an increase of 40% from 2019. Global market was valued at $28.9 billion in 2021 (an increase of 43% from 2020) and reached $31.4 billion in 2022; an increase of 9% from 2021. In 2023 global cannabis sales totalled nearly $35 billion (up 12% from 2022) and are estimated at $38.7 billion in 2024 (11% increase to 2023).

Spending on legal cannabis worldwide is expected to reach nearly $50 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.7% from 2020 and hit $57 billion by 2030. The cannabis market in the United States and Canada is estimated to be about $46.5 billion while the remaining $10.5 billion would go to other markets. The largest growth rate is predicted within the rest-of-world markets with a projected $2 billion in 2030. The recreational cannabis market will cover about 67% of the spending while medical cannabis will take up the remaining 33%.

Legal medical cannabis spending outside the U.S. and Canada increased 60% in 2024 compared to 2023, from $1.4 billion to $2.2 billion, largely due to markets in Australia and Europe. The sales are projected to grow in value to about $4 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 35%.

US & Canada

The initial decision by many U.S. states and Canada to create medical-only cannabis regulations prompted many other countries to act similarly while legalization of recreational use in Canada and in nearly 50% of U.S. states triggered a second wave of legalizing laws internationally to increase access to cannabis products. Analysts estimate that the overall cannabis market for recreational and medical sales in North America reached $36.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $46.5 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2020.

The U.S. legal cannabis market is currently the largest in the world. In 2020-2024, spending in U.S. on cannabis formed more than 80% of global cannabis expenditure. Medical cannabis is legal in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands while recreational cannabis is legal in 24 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Legal cannabis sales in the U.S. have grown steadily over the years, with a CAGR of 21.59% since 2014, reaching an estimated $32.5 billion in 2024. Recreational cannabis accounted for more than 70% of these sales. Experts predict that the legal cannabis market in the U.S. could surpass $40 billion by 2027.

Canada’s legal cannabis market is the second largest in the world, consistently accounting for a little over 10% of the global expenditure on cannabis. Statistics Canada data shows that recreational cannabis sales have grown rapidly since recreational cannabis was legalized in 2018, more than doubling from C$1,186 million in 2019 to C$2,625 million in 2020 and continuing to grow to exceed C$5 billion in 2023. In 2024, the Canadian cannabis market is expected to exceed C$5 in adult-use cannabis sales for the second year in a row. Canada is a major exporter of medical cannabis with C$218 million worth of medical cannabis products exported in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Europe

Some form of medical cannabis (or cannabis-based medicine) is now legal in 24 countries in the region, with a further 9 countries decriminalizing the recreational use of personal amounts of cannabis and 3 countries have legalized cannabis for recreational use.

Reports prepared by London-based advisory group Prohibition Partners value the European legal cannabis market at €354 million in 2022 and €516 million in 2023. Total cannabis sales are forecast to grow with a CAGR of 45% to reach €2.1 billion by 2027.

Germany is the largest medical cannabis market in the region, with patient numbers growing rapidly since the implementation of the German Cannabis Act in 2024 – as of May 2025, it is estimated that there are nearly 900,000 medical cannabis patients in the country. Germany’s imports of medical cannabis more than doubled from 32,503 kilograms in 2023 to over 72,000 kilograms in 2024. Revenue from the medical cannabis industry in Germany was estimated to be around €420 million in 2024 and could reach €1 billion by 2028. Poland, the fifth most populous country in Europe, is set to double the import limit for medical cannabis based on steadily growing demand; total sales reached PLN 42.67 million in 2023, up from PLN 5.7 million in 2022. Spain and Portugal, largest exporters of medical cannabis in Europe, have seen steady growth in recent years. Portugal’s cannabis exports reached 18,521 kg in the first three quarters of 2024, compared to 11,973 kg in all of 2023. Spain produced around 36,000 kg of medical cannabis in 2024, up nearly 54% from 2023.

New Frontier Data estimates the total value of cannabis demand in Europe is $42.9 billion.

Oceania

Australians spent around AU$234 million in 2022 and cannabis sales almost doubled in 2023, reaching $448 million. In the first half of 2024, expenditure on medical cannabis products in Australia already surpassed $402 million. As of January 2024, the patient population using cannabis in Australia has multiplied by around 30 times since 2017. Australia’s legal cannabis market is forecast to grow from about AU$100 million in 2021 to almost $2 billion by 2030, the 5th largest in the world.

According to newly released research by Wellington-based Business and Economic Research, New Zealand cannabis industry value is projected at more than NZ$1.5 billion based on the estimated 74,000 kilograms of cannabis consumed annually in the illicit market, and about 67% of total consumption – about 50,000 kilograms – would be sold through licensed retail stores.

Medical cannabis is also legal in Vanuatu.

Latin America and the Caribbean

The size of the Latin America and the Caribbean (excl U.S. territories) cannabis market has an estimated market value of around $440 million in 2024 and is projected to be driven by Brazil, Mexico and Argentina with a CAGR of 16.74%. Those countries are expected to account for 12% of legal cannabis spending outside the U.S. and Canada.

In 2024, 672,000 patients in Brazil used medical cannabis as a treatment: a 56% increase from 2023. This brought around $139 million in revenue.

According to a November 2024 report on the Cannabis Sector in Uruguay, the country’s domestic market has increased dramatically from 2018 to 2023 with a 144% increase in pharmacy registrations and a 348% rise in the number of members of cannabis membership clubs. In 2023, Uruguay produced a total of 28.6 tons of cannabis, of which more than 25 tons were exported.

A Ministry of Productive Development report obtained by Reuters in 2023 shows that Argentina’s government is targeting $500 million in local medical cannabis sales and $50 million in exports by 2025.

Africa

As of December 2024, South Africa was the only country on the continent where cannabis is legal for both medical and recreational purposes. Other African countries such as Morocco, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Ghana and Rwanda have legalized cannabis for medical use while in Uganda, cannabis has been legalized for exports only.

South Africa’s cannabis industry could reach R28 billion ($1.9 billion) and create up to 25,000 jobs according to the Government’s master plan.

Another emerging cannabis exporter in Africa is Morocco. Morocco is targeting Europe with its exports of medical cannabis and the Moroccan Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry and Innovation believes it could secure a 10% to 15% share of the European market which would bring the country annual revenue of 400 to 600 million euros. The country’s medical cannabis production appears to be growing at a fast pace with an increase in cannabis cultivation area from 286 hectares in 2023 to 2,552 hectares as of April 2024: a jump by nearly 9 times.

Lesotho was the first African country to legalize the cultivation of medical cannabis. In 2021, Lesotho’s start-up MG Health became the first African cannabis grower to receive the certification required to be able to export its medical cannabis flower to the European Union.

Asia

In 2018, Thailand legalized medical cannabis, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to do so. In 2022, it decriminalized cannabis which made it legal to use it for recreational purposes. However, in September 2024, a bill was introduced which proposes to allow cannabis and its extracts for medical use and research only.

In Japan, the “Amending Law”, passed in December 2023 and set to come into effect in December 2024, allows the use and distribution of cannabis-based pharmaceutical products but this is subject to strict regulations under the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act. Use of cannabis that has not been approved as a pharmaceutical product for medicinal purposes is prohibited. Regulations establishing a tiered licensing system for cannabis cultivation are expected to come into effect in 2025.

Source: cannabusinessplans.com.

Global Cannabis Market Infographics

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