Data shows that the future of the cannabis industry is all about growth

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Almost seven months have passed since the 2020 election green wave accelerated the legalization of cannabis in several states in the United States, and with legalization comes market growth.

Data from the annual Marijuana Business Factbook 2021 by Marijuana Business Daily relativizes the growth potential of the cannabis industry in the next few years. Of course, new regulations could keep changing things in the years to come, but the data shows that the future looks bright for cannabis sales, business growth, patient access and employment growth.

Cannabis sales growth

According to data from the Annual Marijuana Business Factbook 2021, US cannabis sales will grow to $ 48.4 billion in 2021 – a 31% increase over 2020 sales ($ 36.9 billion). The majority of sales (54.55%) will be in the adult market ($ 26.4 billion), while the medical market is not far behind ($ 22 billion). In 2020, the same sales ratio was 54.20% of sales for leisure consumers.

The growth is expected to continue well beyond 2021. Legal cannabis sales in the U.S. could reach $ 84.3 billion by 2025, with $ 45.9 billion (54.45%) of those sales falling to the adult market.

To put these numbers in perspective, U.S. cannabis sales would exceed craft beer sales by as much as $ 20 billion Year 2025 versus $ 45.9 billion for the legal cannabis industry).

It is expected that cannabis sales will be driven by a handful of key states in the years to come. Based on the estimated sales for 2021 from the annual Marijuana Business Factbook 2021, the states with the highest legal cannabis sales will account for 28% of the country’s total sales this year:

• California: Up to $ 5.7 billion
• Colorado: Up to $ 2.5 billion
• Illinois: Up to $ 1.9 billion
• Massachusetts: Up to $ 1.7 billion
• Washington: Up to $ 1.7 billion

On the flip side, the five states with medical and / or recreational cannabis markets that are expected to have the lowest sales in 2021, accounting for just 1.6% of the country’s total sales are:

• Iowa: Up to $ 6 million
• North Dakota: Up to $ 13 million
• Vermont: Up to $ 14 million
• Washington, DC: Up to $ 21 million
• Virginia: Up to $ 25 million

As new adult use programs open in states like New York and New Jersey in the coming years, it will be interesting to see how these numbers move forward. Of course, regulation plays an important role in how large a state’s market can actually get, but for large metropolitan areas, the sales rankings are likely to change very soon.

Growth of the cannabis economy

The cannabis industry has had a significant impact on the US economy in recent years, and this effect will only increase over the next few years. Marijuana Business Daily reports that the industry’s total economic impact was up to $ 70 billion in 2020, and the impact is expected to increase by 31% to as high as $ 92.4 billion in 2021. Fast forward to 2025 and the projected economic impact of the cannabis industry is expected to grow to $ 160.7 billion for the U.S. economy.

An important part of this economic growth is due to the large number of jobs that the legal cannabis industry brings to the country. It is estimated that cannabis companies employed up to 415,000 full-time workers in 2021, and that number will rise to 670,000 by 2025. To put this number in perspective, there are more people working in the cannabis industry in 2021 than there are firefighters (335,000 in 2020) in the United States

The cannabis industry is also responsible for enabling people to start businesses. The data shows that there are an estimated 73,650 companies in and with the cannabis industry. Of these companies, up to 44,000 offer complementary products and services, while up to 29,650 are plant-contacting companies.

Key takeaways on the future of the cannabis industry

There is no doubt that the cannabis industry will grow in the years to come. The question that remains is how fast and how strong it will grow and which states will have the greatest growth. Everyone agrees: This is an industry full of opportunity that is having a measurable, positive impact on the US economy.

Cannabiz Media will track all of this growth and update the data in the Cannabiz Media License Database on a daily basis. If you want to take advantage of the opportunities the growing US cannabis market has to offer, schedule a demo and see how you can grow your business as a subscriber to the Cannabiz Media License Database!