Cannabis sales spike in 2020

Sales of cannabis products grew like a weed in 2020, both in legal markets here in Colorado and aroundtheworld.

Global sales topped $21 billion in 2020, a nearly 48% increase over the prior year, according to new data from BDS Analytics Inc., a Boulder-based cannabis market intelligence and research company.

That figure blew away previous forecasts that pegged estimated sales at less than $20 billion.

“The cannabis industr y faced numerous challenges in the past few years, none so potentially disruptive as the coronavirus pandemic in 2020,” BDSA CEO Micah Tapman said in a statement. “Our previous forecast was conser vative based on the expected economic fallout from the pandemic, but the industr y not only sur vived, it thrived and legal cannabis gained considerable ground, exceeding our expectations in several markets.”

Colorado pot purchases accounted for roughly one out of ever y $10 spent globally on cannabis last year, data shows.

The Centennial State saw cannabis revenues of nearly $2.2 billion in 2020, up from less than $1.75 billion the year before, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.

In the month of December 2020, Colorado saw medical and recreational marijuana sales top $186 million.

Of that December total, Boulder County accounted for $11,722,886 in sales, Larimer for $10,789,125 and Weld $3,274,712, according to DOR data. Broomfield doesn’t allow cannabis sales.

In 2020, the cannabis industr y deposited $387,480,110 in tax revenue into Colorado’s cof fers. Since legalization of recreational cannabis in 2014, the state has raised nearly $1.6 billion in taxes.

BDSA expects rapid growth to continue into 2021 and beyond, forecasting U.S. sales to reach $41.3 billion in 2026.