Juliette Gagliardi
Junior Researcher
Cannabis in Europe - Statistics & Facts
In April 2024, Germany became the first European country to legalize the consumption, storage, and production of cannabis by private individuals. In 2024, the number of users of legal cannabis in Europe reached over 105 million and is predicted to follow a growing trend at least over the next five years. The leading products of this market are CBD products that are sold in most European markets. The consumption of cannabis can trigger strong side effects such as addiction, cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), and psychosis. Cannabis users entering treatment are mostly male, accounting for 82 percent of such users in 2022. Germany was the European country with the highest number of cannabis users in treatment because of side-effects related to cannabis consumption. When it comes to the illegal distribution of cannabis, Spain was the country recording the highest number of seizures for herbal and resin cannabis in 2022.
Medical cannabis market
The use of cannabis for medicinal use has been legalized in most of Europe, where it can be bought with a prescription. In many countries, prescriptions for medical cannabis can be obtained only for specific conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy side effects, and epilepsy. In some countries, the condition for prescription is a lack of response to conventional treatments. As of 2024, medical cannabis produced a revenue of 1.61 billion U.S. dollars and is projected to reach 1.96 billion in 2029. The average revenue per user of medical cannabis stands at roughly 1,652 U.S. dollars, and it’s projected to remain quite stable for the next five years.Young cannabis consumers
Cannabis use among young people is quite common and, although classified as a “soft drug”, it is particularly harmful to this category, having negative effects on their neurological, psychosocial, and mental development. As of 2022, the share of 15-year-olds currently consuming cannabis (meaning that they consumed cannabis in the last 30 days before being interviewed) had great variation across countries. Bulgaria recorded the highest share of 15-year-old boys who were current cannabis users, with 19 percent, while Italy was at the top of the ranking when it comes to girls, with 12 percent of them reporting recent use of the drug. Sweden and Denmark recorded the lowest shares, with two percent among girls and three percent for boys, respectively.
