by Business Wire

Global cannabis sales rose 48% to $15 billion in 2019, driven by growth in sales in Canada and seven U.S. states that saw sales more than double.

Continued consumer adoption in maturing markets such as Colorado and new adult-use markets including Massachusetts contributed to 45% growth in adult-use sales to $8.9 billion. However, medical-only states and countries actually grew faster - up 54% growth to $6.2 billion. The United States saw 81% of spending in 2019, although superior growth in the rest of the world will continue balancing the market across the US, Canada, and Europe through 2024.

“These stunning growth numbers prove the negative stigma of cannabis is coming to an end in the US. What’s incredible is the realization that so much potential growth remains both domestically and globally,” said Troy Dayton, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of The Arcview Group. “With sales jumping nearly 50% in an industry with only a handful of markets online, this report quantifies why there’s so much anticipation from producers and shrewd investors waiting for national and international markets to open up or mature. The fallout in public market valuations is not trending with the tremendous growth curve of this exploding market. That discrepancy represents a unique and time-bound opportunity for investors.”

Despite strong growth, regulatory challenges created headwinds that artificially hampered business activity in California, Canada, and numerous other markets.

“The disconnect between investor sentiment and the facts on the ground is as dramatic as anything I’ve seen since the dot.com stock crash of 2000, which happened just as the internet caught fire with consumers,” said Tom Adams, Editor-in-Chief of Arcview Market Research and Managing Director of BDS Analytics Industry Intelligence. “Five billion additional dollars were spent on legal cannabis in 2019. That’s bigger than the entire legal cannabis market was in 2015.”

Among the key points in the forecasts:

• Sales in 2020 are forecast to increase by 38% driven by growth in established markets and continued geographic expansion, including Illinois’ recreational market opening;
• Despite medical spending outgrowing adult-use spending in 2019, adult-use markets will be the primary drivers of global market growth through 2024;
• More than $400 million in Massachusetts adult use sales in the first year of an adult use East Coast market;
• Florida continues to perform strongly with over $650 million in sales despite being a medical-only market;
• New consumers continue to enter the market at a rapid pace with the development of new products and social acceptance