Pot market worth up to $6.2 billion in 2015

The estimated Canadian market for cannabis was between $5 billion and $6.2 billion in 2015, reveals StatsCan in a report.

Those figures are based on consumption of about 678 tonnes, at a price of $7.14 to $8.84 per gram.

In contrast, a 2013 government report says alcoholic drinks represent a market size of about $37 billion in Canada.

Read: Provinces to get 75% marijuana tax share

Adult users on the rise

StatsCan finds that cannabis consumption tended to increase from 1960 to 2015, in part because of increased adult consumption.

“By 2015 just under 6% of estimated cannabis consumers are estimated to be in the 15 to 17 year old age group, while two-thirds of cannabis consumers are over the age of 25,” says the report.

StatsCan says estimates will be updated as new data on cannabis use becomes available.

Read the full report.

About the study: The study presents experimental volume estimates along with corresponding estimates for the number of consumers, says StatsCan. Using this approach, there were about 5 million cannabis consumers aged 15 and older in 2015 (both medical and non-medical users).

The study then estimated cannabis consumption by multiplying the number of consumers by assumptions for the number of days of consumption per person and by the number of grams consumed per day.

Also read:

The challenges ahead for cannabis producers

In midst of ‘M&A spree,’ Aurora Cannabis bids for CanniMed Therapeutics