Pennsylvania medical cannabis: A first look at market data

As the 5th most populated state in the US, we would expect an adult-use market to grow rapidly in Pennsylvania. With potential adult-use legalization on the horizon, we took a look at their medical cannabis market to see what we could learn about this unique state.

The Pennsylvania medical cannabis market

In the last 12 months, Pennsylvania medical cannabis sales totaled $910M.

Medical cannabis sales have grown steadily in the past 13 months, starting at $40M in January 2020 and ending at close to $98M in January 2021. One interesting thing we can see is that the market has not experienced any slowdown due to COVID-19 in March-April.

Year over year January growth in the Pennsylvania medical cannabis market was 146%, or 2.5 times as high as last year.

This growth in total sales was driven to some extent by dispensary count, which grew 33% from 86 to 114 dispensaries. Average sales also grew quickly when new store additions were few, and then slowed down slightly from July-November when new stores were added at a faster pace. In total, average sales per dispensary grew by 86% from $460K to $855K from January 2020 to January 2021.

One area where COVID-19 appears to be having an impact is on average basket size. From January-February, the average basket was in the low $110s but jumped rapidly to $150 with the onset of the pandemic. Basket sizes have since leveled in the $130 to $140 range.

The average basket size growth was first driven by both items per basket and average item price growth. From August onward, items per basket have returned to their pre-COVID levels while average item price has remained close to $50.

We hope Pennsylvania passes adult-use legalization in the near future, and when that happens we will be ready with even more market insights. Until then, sign up for a free Insights Pulse account to keep track of cannabis market trends.

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