THE

GLOBAL
CANNABIS
REPORT
2019 INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

© NEW FRONTIER DATA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

ABOUT NEW
FRONTIER DATA
New Frontier Data provides objective,
rigorous, and comprehensive analysis and report-
ing about the nascent and underserved cannabis
industry worldwide. New Frontier Data’s ana-
lytics and reports have been cited in over 82
countries around the world to inform industry
leaders, investors, policymakers, and others. As
the premier and only Big Data shop in the sector,
New Frontier Data looks beyond plant cultiva-
tion and distribution to raise the industry bar and
improve visibility into what will inevitably soon be a
mature and more complex global market. Founded
in 2014, New Frontier Data is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has additional offices in
Denver, Colorado.
New Frontier Data does not take a position
on the merits of cannabis legalization. Rather,
its mission and mandate are to inform canna-
bis-related policy and business decisions through
rigorous, issue-neutral and comprehensive
analysis of the legal cannabis industry. For more
information about New Frontier Data, please visit:
NewFrontierData.com.
© NEW FRONTIER DATA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Mission
New Frontier Data’s mission is to elevate the
discussion around the legal cannabis industry
globally by providing unbiased, vetted infor-
mation for educating stakeholders to make
informed decisions.
Core Values
••Honesty
••Respect
••Understanding
Vision
Be the Global Big Data & Intelligence Authority
for the Cannabis Industry.
Commitment to Our Clients
The trusted one-stop shop for actionable
cannabis intelligence, New Frontier Data pro-
vides individuals and organizations operating,
researching, or investing in the cannabis industry
with unparalleled access to actionable industry
intelligence and insight, helping them leverage
the power of big data to succeed in a fast-paced
and dynamic market.
| NEWFRONTIERDATA.COM | 2
A B O U T N E W F R O N T I E R D ATA

Report Contributors
PUBLISHER
Giadha Aguirre de Carcer, Founder &
Chief Executive Officer, New Frontier Data

EDITOR
H E A D Q UA R T E R S
John Kagia, Chief Knowledge Officer, 1400 I Street NW / Suite 350 / Washington, DC 20005
New Frontier Data S A L E S & M A R KE T I N G
535 16th Street / Suite 620 / Denver, CO 80202
LEAD AUTHOR  info@newfrontierdata.com  844-420-D8TA
Kacey Morrissey, Director of Industry
Analytics, New Frontier Data

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
Molly McCann, Senior Industry Analyst,
New Frontier Data
Yona Torres, Associate Director of
International Markets, New Frontier Data
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Beau R. Whitney, Vice President and
Senior Economist, New Frontier Data
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QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
Kacey Morrissey, Director of Industry
Analytics, New Frontier Data NCIA’S INDUSTRY AWARDS
NCIA’S INDUSTRYINAWARDS
EXCELLENCE
TECHNOLOGY AWARD
EXCELLENCE IN TOP TECH
TOP TECH
FOR BUSINESS
COMPANY
TECHNOLOGY AWARD
STRATEGY & INNOVATION
FOR BUSINESS
STRATEGY & INNOVATION COMPANY
2 YEARS IN A ROW
2 YEARS IN A ROW

COPY EDITOR
J.J. McCoy, Senior Managing Editor,
New Frontier Data

© NEW FRONTIER DATA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | NEWFRONTIERDATA.COM | 3

EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
More than 50 countries worldwide
have legalized some form of cannabis for medical
use, and six — Canada, Uruguay, South Africa,
Guam, Georgia, and the Northern Mariana
Islands — have legalized cannabis for personal or
recreational use. Yet, the legal, regulated markets
command just a fraction of the global demand
for cannabis.
Based on New Frontier Data’s latest analysis,
more than 260 million adults worldwide consume
cannabis at least once per year, collectively spend-
ing $344 billion USD annually. As much of the
world has not yet legalized any form, much of the
demand is in illicit or unregulated markets.
The large number of cannabis consumers globally,
coupled with the growing evidence of the plant’s
therapeutic value and industrial potential, is trans-
forming attitudes toward cannabis and rapidly
driving reform. Many of the countries to legalize
cannabis in some form have done so in the past
12 months. With highly divergent approaches to
regulating cannabis sales and use, these countries

TOTAL ES TIM ATED VALUE OF C ANNABIS DEM AND BY REG ION

( E S T I M AT E I N $ U S D B I L L I O N S )

$250

Global Demand Value

$200
$344.4 Billion
$USD BILLIONS

$150 Error bars shown depict range of uncertainty

$132.9 due to pricing variation within region.

$100 $85.6

$68.5

$50
$37.3

$9.8 $8.7
$1.7
$0
Asia North America Europe Africa Latin America Oceania Carribean

Source: New Frontier Data

© NEW FRONTIER DATA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | NEWFRONTIERDATA.COM | 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
are creating widely variable markets with differing
levels of opportunity, impact, and operational and
investment risk.
Analyses of legal cannabis markets globally have
revealed that slight cultural, social, and regulatory
variations can drastically impact the size of the
cannabis consumer market. Influential factors in
determining the total addressable market include
the prevalence of cannabis use, average prices
paid, and population size and growth.
Asia (with 39% of global sales) is the world’s largest
market, followed by North America (25%) and
Europe (20%). Despite relatively low rates of can-
nabis use, Asia’s dominance is due to both the
C ANNABIS & HEMP: G LOBAL PHENOMENA
˜˜ Legal Medical and/or Adult Use Cannabis
Source: New Frontier Data
© NEW FRONTIER DATA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
geographical size of the region – Asia is home
to nearly 60% the world’s population - and the
higher average prices paid in the region relative
to other markets.
Average cannabis prices vary widely across
regions, influenced by factors including GPD per
capita and the severity with which prohibition laws
are enforced. In regions with the harshest punish-
ments for cannabis use (such as in Asia), the price
for cannabis carries a heavy risk premium, and
consequently some of the highest illicit market
cannabis prices in the world. In Latin America and
Africa, conversely, average prices are half of those
in Asia, reflecting the higher usage rates and lower
economic development in those regions.
| NEWFRONTIERDATA.COM | 5
 AVER AG E PRICE PER G R A M BY REG ION ($USD)

$20
$20

15%
$18
Global Average Price per Gram

$15
$15 $9.20
$14 $14
$13 $13
$12 $12
15%
$10
$10 15%
$9 $9 $9
$8 $8

$5 $5
2%
$5
$3 $3
$2 $2

$0
Asia Oceania Europe Caribbean North America Latin America Africa

˜˜ Min ˜˜ Mid ˜˜ Max

Min, Mid, and Max values are the average minimum, midrange, and maximum values across the respective regions.
Source: Regional rates modeled by New Frontier Data using country-level pricing data described in the Methodology section of this report.

As government, business, health, and legal experts

collectively lay the foundations for newly legal
••Investment capital’s role in accelerating
industry growth and scale;
cannabis markets across the globe, it is important
to understand the size of the market opportunities
••Potential for technology and innovation
in increasing cannabis business operational
and the influencers of their growth. This report efficiency, and transforming the
provides a foundation of the size and potential consumer experience;
opportunity worldwide that legal cannabis could ••Digital media’s capacity for shaping
cannabis awareness and building
present, based on analysis of demand across 217
connectivity between consumers;
countries and 7 distinct geographical regions.
Additionally, this report explores some of the key ••Future cannibalization of alcohol demand
by cannabis; and
global cannabis trends, such as:
••Hemp’s potential to foment economic
••Durability of legalization support as a
long-term cultural trend;
growth and sustainable development in
developing markets.

••Effectiveness of medical cannabis driving

acceptance and adoption;

© NEW FRONTIER DATA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | NEWFRONTIERDATA.COM | 6

 H E A D Q UA R T E R S
1400 I Street NW / Suite 350 / Washington, DC 20005

S A L E S & M A R KE T I N G
535 16th Street / Suite 620 / Denver, CO 80202
 info@newfrontierdata.com  844-420-D8TA

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NCIA’S INDUSTRY AWARDS

NCIA’S INDUSTRYINAWARDS
EXCELLENCE
TECHNOLOGY AWARD
EXCELLENCE IN TOP TECH
TOP TECH
FOR BUSINESS
COMPANY
TECHNOLOGY AWARD
STRATEGY & INNOVATION
FOR BUSINESS
STRATEGY & INNOVATION COMPANY
2 YEARS IN A ROW
2 YEARS IN A ROW
COPYRIGHT
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