Medical Cannabis Market

Medical Cannabis Market Insight - 2030

The global medical cannabis market size was valued at $6,822.21 Million in 2020 and is projected to reach $53,883.46 Million by 2030 registering a CAGR of 23.6% from 2021 to 2030.Medical cannabis, also called medical marijuana, is a herbal drug derived from plants of the genus Cannabis that is used as part of the treatment for a specific symptom or disease such as cancer, chronic pain, and mental disorders. The two major cannabinoids extracted from this plant providing medical benefits include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

The medical cannabis market is also facing a period of short-term negative growth, which can be attributed to factors such as a decline in the product demand from major end-users, limited operations in most of the industries, inadequate funding to research and academic institutes, and disrupted supply chain and challenges in terms of providing essential/post-sales services.

Legalization of cannabis across various regions and rise in awareness among consumers regarding health benefits of cannabis and its growing medical application such as treatment of wide range of diseases and symptoms, including cancer, chronic pain, depression, arthritis, diabetes, glaucoma, migraines, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Parkinson’s, and Tourette’s drive the growth of the medical cannabis market. In addition, novel product development with increased R&D activities fuels growth of the market.

Complex regulatory structure for the usage of cannabis and social stigma related to cannabis are expected to hinder growth of the market during the forecast period. In addition, lack of skilled workforce hampers growth of the market. On the contrary, cannabis legalization in Asia-Pacific is expected to offer profitable opportunities for growth of the medical cannabis market during the forecast period.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Medical Cannabis Market  

The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted the workflow in the healthcare sector around the world. The disease has forced a number of industries to halt their activities temporarily, including several subdomains of healthcare. The medical cannabis market is further facing a period of short-term negative growth, which can be attributed to factors such as a decline in the product demand from major end-users, limited operations in most of the industries, inadequate funding to research and academic institutes, disrupted supply chain, and challenges in terms of providing essential/post-sales services. For instance, the Netherlands' coffeeshops were initially closed, but later deemed essential businesses. 

In North Macedonia, construction of Pharmacon's 178,000-square-foot cannabis grow house slowed due to of social distancing requirements. Moreover, in Barcelona, Cannabis Social Clubs—private, non-profit organizations, in which cannabis is collectively grown and distributed to registered members, shut their doors following the government's declaration of a state of alarm across the country. 

However, cannabis businesses that offer an e-commerce platform are seeing a surge in business. For instance, cannabis retail outlets, producers, manufacturers, distributors, and warehouses were deemed essential services by the Alberta Government on March 30, 2020. As a result, cannabis businesses and services continued to serve Albertans throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Medical Cannabis Market Segmentation  

The global medical cannabis market is segmented into product type, application, end user, and region to provide a detailed assessment of the market. By product type, it is segmented into buds/marijuana flower and cannabis extracts. The cannabis extract segment includes oil, tinctures, and others include hash, dabs. Depending on application, the market is segregated into chronic pain, mental disorders, cancer, and others, including arthritis, epilepsy, migraine, and others. On the basis of end user, it is categorized into pharmaceutical, and research & development centers. Region wise, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Segment Review

Depending on product type, the cannabis extract segment dominated the global medical cannabis market in 2020, and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period, owing to factors such as rise in preference for cannabis extracts such as oils and tinctures, legalization of marijuana for treatment of various chronic diseases, and new launches of cannabis extract products.

By application, the chronic pain segment led the global medical cannabis market in 2020, and is anticipated to continue this trend during the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in use of medical cannabis for effective treatment for chronic pain, owing to effectiveness in dulling the senses and anti-inflammatory properties of cannabis.

On the basis of end user, the pharmaceutical was the major shareholder in 2020, and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period, owing to increase in use of cannabis in the pharmaceutical industry as well as rise in investments by pharma companies in CBD due to the health benefits of cannabis.

Snapshot of the Asia-Pacific medical cannabis market  

Asia-Pacific offers profitable opportunities for key players operating in the medical cannabis market, thereby registering the fastest growth rate during the forecast period, owing to increase in R&D activities for drug discovery using medical cannabis, rise in incidence of chronic disease such as cancer and osteoarthritis, and increase in awareness about benefits associated with medical cannabis.

In addition, factors such as increase in legalization and active research genetic development and modification of the plant as well as advancements in intellectual property rights of cannabis boost the growth of the market in the region. For instance, in January 2018, the Australian Government allowed cannabis producers in the region to export medical cannabis and its products to the global medical cannabis market.   

The key market players profiled in the report include Aurora marijuana Inc., Canopy Growth Corporation, Cronos Group Inc., Maricann Group, Inc., Medical Marijuana, Inc., OrganiGram Holding Inc., Terra Tech Corp., Tikun Olam Ltd., Tilray, Inc., and VIVO Cannabis Inc.

Key Benefits for Stakeholders

• The study provides an in-depth analysis of the global medical cannabis market along with the current trends and future estimations to explain the imminent investment pockets.
• A comprehensive analysis of the factors that drive and restrict the medical cannabis market growth is provided in the report.
• Comprehensive quantitative analysis of the industry from 2020 to 2030 is provided to enable the stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing market opportunities.
• Extensive analysis of the key segments of the industry helps to understand the application and products of medical cannabis used across the globe.
• Key market players and their strategies have been analyzed to understand the competitive outlook of the medical cannabis market.

 Medical Cannabis Market Report Highlights