The value of Germany’s legal cannabis market is projected to reach an estimated $4.6 billion by 2034 according to a recent industry analysis by The Niche Research. The Niche Research predicts that Germany’s legal cannabis industry will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2% between this year and 2034.
Germany’s home cultivation sector is already increasing in size at an exponential rate thanks to the nation’s new CanG law that permits adults to cultivate up to three plants. According to a recent survey by Pronova BKK, 51% of survey participants selected “Yes, I can imagine having my own cannabis to grow at home” when asked about home cultivation. Another 40% of ‘occasional’ consumers also selected the same option.
A separate survey by YouGov found that 7% of surveyed German adults had already purchased cannabis seeds or clones as of May 2024, and another 11% indicated that they plant to in the future. Cannabis seed banks across the continent have reported huge sales spike after home cultivation became legal in Germany.
Projections for Germany’s cannabis market, particularly ones with a forecast period that go far into the future, may prove to be too conservative as time goes on, as pointed out by the International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC). ICBC’s event in Berlin is the largest and longest-running cannabis B2B event in Germany.
“Previous projections for Germany’s emerging cannabis industry include one by Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf which estimated that adult-use legalization will create 27,000 new jobs in Germany, although that projection may prove to be too conservative as time goes along.” ICBC stated in its original reporting.
“Consider the fact that North Rhine-Westphalia alone is planning on permitting up to 3,000 social cannabis clubs, each able to serve up to 500 members. Every one of those social clubs will create jobs, and that is just one sector of the industry in one region of Germany.” ICBC also stated.
According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s (EMCDDA) recently published ‘2024 European Drug Report’, 34.7% of German adults have consumed cannabis at least once in their lives and 8.8% report having consumed cannabis within the last month.
Germany is the largest country to ever pass a national adult-use legalization measure. Germany’s domestic medical cannabis production quota system, which has historically limited the amount of medical cannabis produced in Germany, is no longer in place. Germany imported 34.6 tons of medical cannabis products in 2023 alone. The recent changes will contribute to tremendous growth for Germany’s domestic medical cannabis industry in the coming years.
Germany’s cannabis industry is currently estimated to be worth nearly 1.2 billion euros according to Euromonitor International. Euromonitor estimates that the emerging global cannabis industry is currently worth 51.4 billion euros, with that figure estimated to top 60 billion in 2025.