Cannabis sales reach $6.7 billion in North America in 2016

The legal cannabis market reached 6.7 billion in the United States in 2016. The market’s growth could be compared to that of the Internet in the early 2000s. This strong growth is attracting investors from across the Atlantic.

In 2016, legal cannabis sales in the United States totaled $5.8 billion, and $6.7 billion across North America. The economic analysts at ArcView note that the legal cannabis market is growing as fast as the Internet did in the early 2000s, at a rate of 25 % per year. Legal cannabis sales jumped by 17 % between 2014 and 2015 and by 25% between 2015 and 2016.

In its forecast, the research group specializing in cannabis reports that this market will have to wait $20.2 billion by 2020. By comparison, the Internet boom in the early 2000s saw annual growth of 29%. Troy Dayton, CEO of ArcView, ended 2016 with unbridled optimism: «If you look at the global market, we’ve never seen a market as promising over such a long period as the cannabis market.».

According to the research firm BDS Analytics, this growth stems primarily from consumer demand and market diversification. Fully manufactured products are entering the market alongside the edibles, oils, and concentrates. «These products aren’t available on the black market; they’re reaching non-smoking customers who weren’t included in the projections.».

Growth slightly lower than expected

Economic analysts may gush about the market’s growth and encourage investors by promising the moon and the stars, but the market fell short of expectations in 2016. On April 19, 2016, the renowned magazine Forbes reported, according to the same ArcView institute, the cannabis market is expected to be worth only 7.1 billion dollars in the United States. This forecast is an overestimate, since the combined U.S. and Canadian market is only worth $6.8 billion—representing a significant overestimate of $1.3 billion for the U.S. market alone.

In France, the illegal cannabis market is estimated to be worth between 2 and 3 billion euros.