The CCSI was assessed at C$5.12 per gram this week, up 0.4% from last week’s C$5.10 per gram. This week’s price equates to US$1,823 per pound at the current exchange rate.
Each week, Business of Cannabis delivers a series of insights from our partners at Cannabis Benchmarks®.
Last week, Statistics Canada released retail sales data for July 2021, with nationwide legal cannabis sales reaching a new monthly high of C$338.9M.
We continue to see a strong upward trajectory in cannabis sales. To correct for the different number of days in each month, the chart above looks at average daily sales, which shows July 2021 sales reaching C$10.9M per day. This figure is C$3.4M per day more than what was sold the previous July; a year-to-year increase of 45%.
Cannabis Benchmarks attribute the strong sales to several key factors:
- Legal accessibility to cannabis continues to get better; specifically in Ontario, where we have seen 86 new cannabis retailers added each month in 2021 so far. This has helped Ontario achieve its 1,000 store goal by mid-August, well ahead of schedule.
- We are noticing seasonality in cannabis sales, with sales stronger during the summer months. July is typically a holiday month for post-secondary students; hence the increased sales can be attributed to that free time, as well as better weather that encourages social gatherings.
- Lastly, lower prices in the retail markets are pushing consumers to the legal channels and away from illicit sources.
Source: Canada Cannabis Spot Index, Cannabis Benchmarks
See previous weekly updates from Cannabis Benchmarks:
- How to view dry cannabis sales across Canada
- A look at percentage of legal versus illicit cannabis sales
- A look at the pace of growth for cannabis retail
- A look at monthly cannabis sales in Ontario
- What is the optimal number of cannabis stores in Canada?
- How to compare daily cannabis retail sales by Province
- Understanding the impact of cannabis on alcohol sales in Canada
- A look at cannabis retail store count by Province
- A look at cannabis user statistics in Canada