Ask Our Experts: Sizing Up the EU’s CBD Market

 

Q: In terms of consumer spending, how big is the European Union (EU) CBD market?

 

By William Sumner, Hemp Content Manager, New Frontier Data

A: The EU is one of the largest hemp-CBD markets in the world. According to New Frontier Data’s EU CBD Consumer Report Series (Volume 3): Market Size & Demand, consumers in the EU are on track to spend €8.3 billion on CBD products this year. By 2025, that market is expected to grow (at a CAGR of 10.4%) to be worth €13.6 billion by 2025.

Inside the EU itself, the two largest submarkets for CBD are Germany and the U.K./Ireland region. Annual CBD spending in Germany is expected to top out at €1.8 billion by the end of the year, with the U.K./Ireland market projected to top out at €1.7 billion.

As is true of so much in 2020, however, those market projects are subject to potential rapid change.

Currently, the European Commission is considering classifying CBD as a narcotic. In so doing, ingestible CBD products would largely become illegal under EU law, thereby essentially gutting the burgeoning industry. The only region that might remain untrammeled by such prohibition is the U.K. market, following Brexit. The EU is a rapidly growing CBD market, but if the European Commission follows through with its plans, that growth could be stopped in its tracks, much less before reaching its fullest potential.