From Forbes: “Marijuana Sales Totaled $6.7 Billion In 2016”

Original article from Forbes by Debra Borchardt | Jan. 3, 2017

North American marijuana sales grew by an unprecedented 30% in 2016 to $6.7 billion as the legal market expands in the U.S. and Canada according to a new report by Arcview Market Research. U.S. sales alone were $5.86 billion. North American sales are projected to top $20.2 billion by 2021 assuming a compound annual growth rate of 25%. The report includes Canada for the first time as it moves towards implementing legal adult use marijuana.

To put this in perspective, this industry growth is larger and faster than even the dot com era. During that time, GDP grew at a blistering pace of 22%. 30% is an astounding number especially when you consider that the industry is in early stages.

Arcview’s new editor-in-chief Tom Adams said, “The only consumer industry categories I’ve seen reach $5 billion in annual spending and then post anything like 25% compound annual growth in the next five years are cable television (19%) in the 1990’s and the broadband internet (29%) in the 2000’s.”

ArcView’s analysis uses data provided by BDS Analytics that has access to millions of individual consumer transactions from dispensary partners.  “One of the biggest stories was the alternative forms of ingestion,” said ArcView Chief Executive Officer Troy Dayton. “Concentrates and edibles are becoming customer favorites versus traditional smoking.”

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Read full story on Forbes here.