Legal cannabis sales grew 232 percent in 2015

Written By Emily Gray Brosious 
 

 

(Photo credit: David Ryder/Getty Images)

Marijuana likely to be a leading growth sector for years to come.

Legal cannabis sales grew 232 percent in 2015, making recreational marijuana one of America’s fastest growing sectors, according to a report from New Frontier, a company specializing in cannabis industry data and analysis.

Legal cannabis industry growth rates shot up higher in 2015 than those of the electric vehicle industry (222 percent), Solar PV installation industry (60 percent) and even the Big Data sector (40 percent).

U.S. medical and recreational marijuana markets combined grew by 31 percent in 2015, which is quite a bit smaller than the growth rate of the recreational marijuana industry by itself but still very healthy numbers.

A fairly recent explosion of new cannabis-enfused edibles, concentrates and other marijuana products have been a key part of the sector’s growth in 2015.

New Frontier predicts the marijuana industry’s growth rates will not slow down any time soon:

With strong consumer demand, rapid expansion into new states, and growing public support for national legalization, the legal cannabis industry is poised to be a leading growth market for the years to come.