Total Cannabis Sales in Legacy Markets Show Growth Compared to Pre-COVID

While the cannabis industry is currently dealing with price corrections from a post-pandemic sales boom, a recent report from cannabis data and research company Headset shows that sales in legacy markets are actually up compared to pre-COVID. 

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The report, “An analysis of declining growth in recent U.S. cannabis sales,” published Aug. 4, looks at recent months’ sales trends in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington compared to sales during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and before the virus hit the U.S. in early 2020. 

The study found that sales spiked in each of those markets during the pandemic, likely due to consumer behavior changes, and that “the softening of demand in recent months may be a correction to a pre-pandemic normal,” according to the report. 

A Closer Look

In the first six months of the pandemic (February to July 2020), sales in all four legacy markets skyrocketed and continued to rise into 2021. For example, adult-use sales in Colorado grew 63% from February to July 2020–that’s a 20 percentage point increase compared to 2019, when adult-use sales in the state grew 43% from February to July of that year.

Sales began to slightly decline towards the end of 2021 and kept that same pace into the start of 2022, creating a year-over-year sales decline. 

For example, the monthly year-over-year sales growth for cannabis in Oregon averaged 21.1% during pre-COVID (January 2019 to February 2020) compared to 2018. That number grew to 36.6% during peak-COVID (March 2020 to May 2021), and in recent months (June 2021 to June 2022), it declined to 9.8%. 

Colorado’s average monthly year-over-year cannabis sales were up 15.6% during pre-COVID compared to 2018. And during peak-COVID, that number grew to 25.8% but has declined to 11.4% in recent months. 

Washington saw a 10.4% increase in year-over-year sales during pre-COVID, and during the COVID boom, sales saw a 25.4% increase. But in recent months, sales have declined by 8.3%. 

“Colorado, Oregon and Washington each saw a drastic increase in monthly sales growth during the peak of the pandemic and have also been averaging year over year retractions of roughly -10% since June 2021,” according to the report. 

Long-Term Trends 

While current year-over-year sales show a downward trend, Headset discovered that total sales have trended upward in each of these markets when comparing June 2019 (pre-COVID) to June 2022. 

Total Cannabis Sales in Mature Markets: 

Oregon has showed the highest growth (+25%) from 2019 to 2022, while Colorado reported the lowest growth (+4%). Washington’s sales grew 17% in that time, while Nevada’s grew 7%. 

According to Headset, the data demonstrates that the “market is correcting to a pre-COVID normal, and sales should stabilize soon.” In addition, long-term trends are showing growth across legacy and emerging cannabis markets.