According to cannabis market research firm BDSA, global legal cannabis sales in 2020 were 45% higher than in 2019, with several leading cannabis companies reporting triple-digit growth in revenues in 2020 over the previous year.
Moreover, the healthy prospects of the global cannabis market were reflected in the mergers and acquisitions activity of last year.
During the height of the pandemic, consumers were understandably more concerned about their health and wellbeing than they had been before.
The survey shows that 32% of consumers are ‘often’ influenced in their product choice by how the product impacts their health and wellbeing, with 34% ‘always’ being influenced.
The growing influence of health and wellness concerns on consumer purchases is also reflected in the M&A activity in the consumer goods sector for last year.
Many cannabis products align with the three key consumer preferences that are driving the health and wellness trend, as identified in GlobalData’s 2021 TrendSights analysis report on health and wellness.
As a result, CBD, as typically advertised, can improve consumers’ mental health and wellbeing without chemically intoxicating consumers the way smoked cannabis does.
BDSA points out that legal cannabis sales in the US grew 46% in 2020 and cites new adult-use markets in the US as a reason for this growth.
Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Schultz, has expressed ambitions to legalise recreational cannabis, and the legalisation of recreational cannabis was delayed in Luxembourg last year only because of Covid-19.
In summary, the regulatory trends and changing consumer preferences that have thus far driven the cannabis industry’s recent growth show no signs of abating.