BDSA Predicts Global Cannabis Market Will Hit Almost $60 Billion by 2027

The global cannabis market is on track to nearly double its sales within the next four years to a whopping $59.6 billion by 2027, with three-quarters of that expected to be sold in the United States.

That’s according to a market forecast this week by Colorado-based BDSA, which found that consumer spending on cannabis hit $32 billion in 2022.

“Global legal cannabis spending grew 4.8% to $32 billion in 2022 and forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2% from 2022 to 2027, resulting in a market size of $59.6 billion by 2027,” BDSA reported.

The growth last year came despite a marked slowdown in consumer spending on marijuana and widespread price declines that followed wholesale price crashes.

A large part of the market increase in coming years has to do with several U.S. state markets that have yet to fully develop, CEO Roy Bingham said in a press release, since the U.S. still comprises the lion’s share of the global market, with $26.1 billion in marijuana sales last year alone.

The U.S. cannabis market by itself is projected to reach $44.5 billion in sales by 2027, Bingham said, with the main drivers being California, New Jersey, and New York.

The Canadian market is expected to hit just $5.7 billion in cannabis sales by 2027, and other nations will only total $9.5 billion in sales, BDSA projected.

“Our updated forecast predicts strong growth in the U.S. driven by developing markets, particularly the adult-use markets of Missouri, New Jersey, and New York,” Bingham said. “Additionally, four of the top five U.S. markets—Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Michigan—will increase by a combined 9.5% in 2023, adding nearly $770 million in new spending.”

The analytics firm also predicted a “return to growth” for many of the mature state markets that suffered sales declines last year, including California, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon, which combined saw a 16.5% sales dip.

All of this adds up to a simple conclusion: The growth of the cannabis industry is nowhere near complete, despite all of the market turbulence in recent years. Much of the U.S. has still yet to embrace legal cannabis, and it’s the same with the rest of the world, which means despite all of the industry hurdles, there’s still good reason for optimism about the industry overall.