North American cannabis sales grew by a mind-blowing 30% in 2016 to $9 billion (6.7 billion USD) as the legal market expands, according to a new report by Arcview Market Research.
North American sales are projected to top $27 billion by 2021 assuming a compound annual growth rate of 25%. The report includes Canada for the first time as the federal Liberal moves towards legalizing recreational use marijuana.
For perspective, the legal cannabis industry’s growth is much larger and faster than even the dot com era. During that time, GDP grew at a pace of 22%.
“The only consumer industry categories I’ve seen reach $5 billion in annual spending and then post anything like 25% compound annual growth in the next five years are cable television (19%) in the 1990’s and the broadband internet (29%) in the 2000’s,” said Arcview editor-in-chief Tom Adams.
The report used data gathered by BDS Analytics that has access to millions of individual consumer transactions from dispensary partners.