Dynamic German Cannabis Market: Rising Medical Use Today | Recreational Use Tomorrow

I. The German cannabis market in Summer 2022

• In just a few years, Germany has developed into an important sales market for medical cannabis.
  • In 2021 alone, statutory health insurance (SHI)-accredited physicians working in the statutory health insurance system prescribed cannabis-based medicines to the tune of some EUR 185 million, marking a growth of slightly more than 12% over the previous year. In 2018, sales stood at EUR 74 million.
  • In 2021, the number of prescriptions for medical cannabis rose to 372,000, compared to 340,000 in 2020. Unprocessed cannabis flowers accounted for almost EUR 70 million and cannabinoid-containing medicines for a further EUR 46 million.
  • No reliable figures are available for self-payers and private patients. Sales may actually be higher than the statistics for the SHI system indicate because medical cannabis is only prescribed for SHI patients subject to very strict requirements – many of them obtain it on private