According to a Prohibition Partners analysis, the cannabis market in Oceania – which includes New Zealand, Australia, Guam and other surrounding islands – could be worth $1.55 billion by 2024 with medical cannabis sales comprising nearly 40 percent of the market.
The cannabis market intelligence and strategic consultancy firm suggests that Australia would account for 79 percent of the region’s overall market by 2014 due to its larger population and higher household disposable income than New Zealand and the region’s islands.
The report anticipates that over the next five years the region would see a falling reliance on imported cannabis products and the shift to domestic production would lead to a sizeable increase in domestic revenue generated by legalized cannabis.
“The most transformative legislative change is emanating from the Australia Central Territory, Guam, New Zealand and the Northern Mariana Islands – while Australia is committing to further cannabis science research on a federal level.” – Prohibition Partners, The Oceania Cannabis Report: Second Edition
In a statement, Prohibition Partners’ Group Managing Director Stephen Murphy noted that there are now more than 30 publicly listed cannabis companies on the Australian Stock Exchange and that the region is taking steps toward broad legalization.
Murphy points out that Australia was “rocked” by wildfires at the start of 2020 and that the industry “could come to play a major role in helping counteract the economic impact of these wildfire.” He added that since the coronavirus outbreak, Australia’s cannabis stocks have “seen a double-digit fall” but “at present there appears to be no significant disruption to the industry’s production and supply lines.”
The Australian Capital Territory last year passed cannabis law reforms, including removing penalties and fines for low-level possession and allowing residents 18-and-older to grow up to four plants per household and possess up to 50 grams of “dry” cannabis and 150 grams of “wet” cannabis. Adult cannabis use was legalized in Guam last April while medical cannabis has been legal on the island since 2015. In 2018, New Zealand amended its drug laws to allow broader access to medical cannabis and voters will decide whether to legalize recreational cannabis in November.
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