U.S. Cannabis Sales Surpass $30 Billion In 2024
February 11, 2025U.S. cannabis sales are projected at $30.2 billion-$30.7 billion for 2024, including medical and adult-use sales, according to cannabis market analysis firm Whitney Economics. The group estimates that U.S. cannabis grew by 5.9% in 2024. This marks the 11th consecutive year of growth for legal cannabis in the U.S., with 2024 adding roughly $1.7 billion over 2023. Over the last decade, legal cannabis has grown exponentially in the U.S., from just $3.5 billion in 2014.
Whitney breaks adult-use states into three categories: mature, emerging, and new. Last year, mature states generated just under $10 billion in sales, with emerging states adding $13.8 billion, and new states contributing $1.4 billion. Mature states—like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington—saw an average of 77% legal sales, with the rest coming from the illicit market. Those mature states may be approaching the upper limit of how many consumers can be pulled into the legal market. In emerging states, legal sales take a significantly smaller share, about 41.2% of the overall category. New states, naturally, come in the lowest for legal participation at 16.2%.
Looking ahead, Whitney expects further growth in 2025 for adult-use markets, projecting that mature markets will inch forward by 0.3%, emerging markets will grow by 20.1%, and new markets will leap forward by 54.3%. In all, Whitney projects total adult-use cannabis sales for 2025 of $28.8 billion.
On the state level, Whitney projects that Florida will see a slowdown for the year, even as more multi-state operators rush into the substantial medical market, anticipating that the Sunshine State will eventually allow adult-use sales. The group expects 2025 to be a banner year for New York, estimating that the Empire State will see retail sales double from an impressive $859 million in 2024.
While there continues to be opportunity for some large states like Florida and Pennsylvania to add adult-use sales, Whitney projects more muted growth overall in the years ahead, noting that the pre-pandemic and pandemic sales jumps of more than 30% are likely in the past for the U.S. cannabis industry.—Shane English
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