Key Findings

• The European medical cannabis industry has seen steady growth over the past year and it is projected to reach over €550 million in sales by the end of this year.
• The European CBD market remains complex, and in some aspects opaque, but increasingly the picture is becoming clearer
• The combined market size of all CBD categories in 2023 is over €2 billion.
• The most significant trend seen in the market is the rise of CBD flower products across multiple countries, which is posing many legal questions and challenges, not least in courtrooms throughout Europe. 
• Four European countries are in the process of developing regulatory models for an adult-use cannabis market; Germany, The Czech Republic, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
• In financial terms, 2022 was a difficult year for all industries, and the medical cannabis industry was no different. There have been promising signs in recent months that are giving cause for optimism.
• European supply diversified throughout 2022, continuing a trend previously seen in 2021. The overall share of the two largest suppliers of the market historically - Canada and the Netherlands - remains in decline, while new or increased imports from Australia, Africa, South America, Israel, the Caribbean, as well as from some European countries, are meeting a rising demand in the region.
• Medical cannabis prices in Europe are a little less elastic than those in North America primarily because the markets are more tightly regulated. 
• After a European ‘green wave’ in 2021 saw investment and investors flooding into the burgeoning cannabis industry, the downturn which had begun in the latter months of the year, accelerated throughout the entirety of 2022.
• Europe remains the centre of attention when it comes to the development of the medical cannabis industry at a global level. This is not only because it has the potential to become the largest market, but also because it is open to international players.