Study Says CBD Market Could Hit $20 Billion By 2024
When you consider the enormous breadth of the burgeoning hemp market -- from food and beverage to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and even building materials – you can see why the future of hemp appears so strong, and why analysts are taking note of its explosive numbers.
Leading cannabis researchers BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research are among a long list of analysts recently making positive projections – this time pointing to a collective market for CBD sales in the US that will surpass $20 billion by 2024.
“We’re witnessing CBD maturing from a cannabis sub-category into a full-blown industry of its own,” Roy Bingham, Co-Founder and CEO of BDS Analytics, explained in a news release announcing the report. “Our growth forecast for the CBD market, across all distribution channels, predicts a compound annual growth rate of 49 percent by 2024. This is a great opportunity for all involved, but it means the road ahead will include decisions that need to be informed by the best possible data.”
The BDS Analytics projection represents a modest increase over earlier forecasts from New York-based Cowen & Co, which estimated the market could top $15 billion by 2025.
The BDS Analytics report explains that, as major retailers continue to announce their stocking and private label development of CBD products, BDS expects the majority of CBD product sales will soon occur in general retail stores rather than cannabis dispensaries, as is currently the case. In future, BDS Analytics expects the success of products will be dependent on education and understanding, dosing, and consistent labelling.
BDS Analytics added that CBD is in a unique position compared to other nutraceutical or supplement ingredients for two main reasons:
1) as an active ingredient in cannabis, CBD has a storied history of health and wellness use, and anecdotal evidence of efficacy, and
2) CBD is one of the few natural remedies that can claim a scientific basis for at least some of the claims being made about its curative powers.
But sales will continue from other distribution channels. In fact, BDS Analytics is predicting a compound annual growth rate of 49 percent by 2024 across all distribution channels. Also, they expect that the CBD market, combined with THC products, will create a total market of $45 billion for cannabinoids by 2014.
It’s no wonder consumers are fascinated by the perceived benefits of CBD. While BDS Analytics acknowledges consumer penetration for hemp-derived CBD products in the US is still only around 15 percent today, there is substantial consumer interest in Ingestibles (tinctures, pills, beverages, food) and Topicals (creams, balms, salves) formats.
According to Jessica Lukas, Vice President of Consumers Insights at BDS Analytics, CBD sales have exploded in the past several months. But she adds, “there’s still a long way to go when it comes to consumer, retailer, and manufacturer knowledge. Fifty-six percent of adults 21 years old and older don’t know -- or are confused -- about the differences between THC and CBD. That’s why we’re so excited to offer the in-depth data we do, to help guide and inform a new, booming industry.”