According to one of the top-five financial firms Forbes has identified in the cannabis sector, Arcview Market Research, and its research partner BDS Analytics, over the next 10 years, the legal cannabis industry will see much progress around the globe. Spending on legal cannabis worldwide is expected to hit $57 billion by 2027 . The adult-use (recreational) market will cover 67 percent of the spending; medical marijuana will take up the remaining 33 percent.
The largest group of cannabis buyers will be in North America, going from $9.2 billion in 2017 to $47.3 billion a decade later. The largest growth spread, however, is predicted within the Rest-of-World markets, from $52 million spent in 2017 to a projected $2.5 billion in 2027.
The worldwide adult recreational cannabis market remains hampered by the United Nations and its 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The Arcview and BDS report believes nothing will be done to change the U.N. attitude until U.S. federal laws legalize marijuana—something Arcview’s CEO, Troy Dayton believes will happen after the 2020 presidential election.
Still, the main difference between the U.S. and European cannabis markets is that in the U.S. recreational use will dominate sales. With a budget of $1.3 trillion in health care spending, European government subsidized health care systems will bring the medical cannabis market to dominate Europe and become the largest medical marijuana market in the world.
