International cannabis markets to watch in 2022

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In 2019, the legal medicinal cannabis industry was limited to 50 countries and only two countries had officially legalized adult use – Uruguay in 2013 and Canada in 2018. A third country, Luxembourg, announced adult use in 2018 to legalize cannabis by the end of 2021. However, the adult-use program was limited to home-growing without any commercial market. It wasn’t until December 2021, when Malta legalized adult-use cannabis, that a country in Europe would have a commercial recreational market.

Progress is being made. International cannabis markets are expanding and legalization of adult use is drawing near in many countries, particularly in Europe. Let’s take a closer look at some of the big cannabis markets around the world — beyond the United States and Canada — that we’ll be watching in 2022.

Europe: All eyes (and wallets) are on Germany

Germany has a population of more than 80 million people. To put this in perspective, the adult cannabis market in Germany is likely to be significantly larger than the legal adult market in California, which had an estimated six to seven million domestic adult customers in 2020, according to MJBizDaily’s annual 2021 Marijuana Business Factbook.

But that’s not all. Germany also has a large tourism industry with 40 million tourists arriving each year – mainly from other European countries. That said, if legal adult cannabis is available in Germany, tourism is likely to increase, as will sales of recreational cannabis.

Today, Amsterdam in the Netherlands is where tourists in Europe go to freely use cannabis, but while authorities are looking the other way, cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands for recreational use. Legalization in Germany could change everything in Europe.

In December 2021, Germany’s three political parties agreed to regulate the distribution and sale of recreational cannabis. It’s only a matter of time before adult cannabis sales begin, and you can bet other European nations will soon follow Germany.

Already, major Canadian and US multi-state operators are making claims in the European cannabis markets, and investors are seizing opportunities to gain an early foothold in what could quickly become a large market. For example, in January 2022, Tilray Brands completed its first sale of medicinal cannabis in Malta, and in February 2022, Casa Verde Capital invested $15 million in Cansativa Group, a company trying to become the Amazon of cannabis in Europe.

Central America and South America

Advances are being made in Central America and South America that will help countries legalize cannabis and open markets more broadly than ever before. For example, in July 2021, Colombia approved the export of dried cannabis flowers. Panama legalized medicinal cannabis in August 2021, and Mexico published regulations regulating its medicinal cannabis market in January 2022.

Mexico and Colombia are two countries to keep an eye on. Mexico has a population of approximately 130 million, making it the largest potential legal cannabis market in Central America and a major opportunity for the cannabis markets. Another reason to keep an eye on Colombia is the cultivation and export of dried flowers.

At the same time, some countries in this region of the world still face obstacles to legalizing medicinal and/or adult-use cannabis. Costa Rica’s medicinal cannabis law was passed by its Legislative Assembly in January 2022, but later that month the country’s president vetoed the law, claiming it required changes to limit personal cultivation and use. The bill goes back to Congress, which Reuters says is “dominated by opposition parties.” Its future is unknown.

Despite the challenges in some countries, there are many fast-growing cannabis markets in Central America and South America that offer significant business and investment opportunities that could materialize in the near future.

Asia and Africa

One of the more interesting stories to come out of Africa in the last 12 months was about Zimbabwe, which in September 2021 licensed 57 foreign and local companies to grow and process medicinal cannabis. The country legalized medicinal cannabis in 2018. Why do these 57 issue licenses? exports. Zimbabwe is eyeing cannabis exports, and companies from Germany, Canada, Switzerland and others are already stepping in.

Things are very different in Southeast Asia, a part of the world known for its strict drug laws and penalties. Nevertheless, progress is being made. For example, Thailand legalized medical marijuana in 2018, and in 2020 the government decriminalized the production and use of medical cannabis other than flower and seeds. It wasn’t until January 2022 that the country came a step closer to full decriminalization when the Narcotics Control Board approved removing cannabis entirely from the department’s list of controlled drugs. The law was signed by the Minister of Health on February 8, 2022. After 120 days of publication in the country’s public daily newspaper, the measure comes into effect and cannabis is completely delisted (including flowers and seeds) and decriminalized in Thailand – a big step for a Southeast Asian country.

While it’s unlikely that other countries in Southeast Asia will follow Thailand’s example in the near future, that doesn’t diminish the importance of what Thailand has done – it has opened the door for market growth.

Key insights into the international cannabis markets

Each year we see more cannabis markets open and expand around the world. This trend will continue to grow in 2022 and Cannabiz Media will track all license activity in the Cannabiz Media License Database. Schedule a demo and see how it can help you achieve your business goals this year.