•United Kingdom · market report · October 2026
The UK medical cannabis market, measured.
England dispensed 1.79 million items of medical cannabis in 2025, worth £165m at the list prices of the day. Our free 46-page report reads every line of the NHSBSA’s dispensing record to show what patients received, at what strength and price, and who supplied it.
England only, and a floor. The record misses Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and late submissions, so every level here undercounts the UK. How we handle it →
Counted, not estimated
1.79m
items dispensed in England in 2025, +168% on 2024 and six times 2023
44k
124k
283k
669k
1.79m
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Items dispensed by year · NHSBSA, England only
1,009
SKUs dispensed, 2025
from 548 in 2023
£165m
dispensed value, 2025
at the list prices of the day
30.1 t
flower imported, 2025
62% of supply reached English patients
26%
Curaleaf’s share of items
from 61% in 2023
−5.0%
same flower, list price
Oct 2025 → Aug 2026
Imports cover the whole UK. Everything else is the NHSBSA record for England, so read levels as floors; shares and trends need no adjustment.
•Early 2026 · what the newest data shows
Prices are falling, yet new brands keep arriving and pastilles just had their best quarter.
January to March 2026 is still being completed: Curaleaf’s flower, oils and vapes and Aurora report months late. These four findings are the ones late submissions cannot overturn.
1
Price is now a lever.The same flower costs 5.0% less than in October 2025, and the cuts landed on what patients actually buy.
2
Entry is still open.7 new brands in a quarter, most through an existing import platform. Thai-grown Kiseki reached 1,941 items in two months.
3
Supply, not demand, limits extracts.One supplier, one stock gap in late 2025, then the largest pastille quarter on record.
The same flower cost 2.6% less by February and 5.0% less by August
List £ per gram of a fixed basket of 173 flower SKUs, weighted by what patients bought in Oct–Dec 2025
£6.96
£6.78
£6.62
Oct 2025
Feb 2026
Aug 2026
32 SKUs were cut by February and 4 raised. Vapes followed: the same 16 cartridges cost 3.2% less by August, and patients traded down from a £59.5 to a £57.2 cartridge.
Fixed basket at Q4 2025 weights, so brand switching cannot move it · MedBud formulary snapshots · report p.3
Pastilles had their best quarter: 16,844 items
Curaleaf pastille items dispensed per quarter, England
1.5k
2.5k
4.5k
5.0k
9.5k
12.5k
13.6k
12.4k
16.8k
’24 Q1
’24 Q2
’24 Q3
’24 Q4
’25 Q1
’25 Q2
’25 Q3
’25 Q4
’26 Q1
+36% on Q4 and +76% on a year earlier, straight after the Oct–Nov 2025 stock gap. Meanwhile 7 brands were dispensed for the first time in Q1, in line with the 6–12 a quarter since 2024.
Curaleaf pastilles report on time, unlike its flower, oils and vapes · NHSBSA FOI_04906 · report p.3 and p.45
•The market · chapter 01
The market doubled every year, and is worth about £200m once the rest of the UK is counted.
Quarterly growth has not dropped below 13% since 2022 and averaged 25% a quarter.
1
+168% in 2025.669k items in 2024 became 1.79m, after more than doubling in each of the three years before.
2
Value lags volume.Smaller packs and single vape cartridges mean each prescription carries less product than it did in 2021.
3
~£200m for the UK.Adding 20–25% for the devolved nations and missing submissions gives a total-UK market near £200m in 2025.
Items more than doubled every year, to 1.79 million
Items dispensed in England, by year
44k
124k
283k
669k
1.79m
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
+183%, +128%, +136% and +168%. The fourth quarter of 2025 alone dispensed 629,971 items.
NHSBSA FOI_03941, FOI-03965 and FOI_04906 (2025 restated) · England only · report p.6
Value reached £165m, but each item is worth less
Value dispensed in England, £m, each month priced at the closest dated list price
£6.9m
£15m
£31m
£70m
£165m
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
The average item fell from £158 to £92 as 10 g jars and single cartridges took over. At constant August 2026 prices, 2025 is £159m.
Period pricing: 29% of 2025 items are priced from a same-quarter observation; earlier years rest on the earliest capture and are indicative · report p.7
•Supply · chapter 01 and 05
Imports doubled to 30 tonnes, and Canada now ships most of them direct.
The import record covers the whole UK, the dispensing record England alone. Read side by side, they reconcile.
Imports doubled to 30.1 tonnes; England dispensed 20.5
Flower imported into the UK against flower dispensed in England, tonnes
2.0
2021 · Imported into the UK · 2.0 t
0.7
2021 · Dispensed in England · 0.7 t
8.6
2022 · Imported into the UK · 8.6 t
1.9
2022 · Dispensed in England · 1.9 t
6.9
2023 · Imported into the UK · 6.9 t
4.0
2023 · Dispensed in England · 4.0 t
15.0
2024 · Imported into the UK · 15.0 t
8.8
2024 · Dispensed in England · 8.8 t
30.1
2025 · Imported into the UK · 30.1 t
20.5
2025 · Dispensed in England · 20.5 t
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Imported into the UKDispensed in England
Canada shipped 57% of imports in 2025, from 17%: 2,578 kg became 17,067 kg as producers bypassed EU processors.
Home Office import FOIs (whole UK, by exporting country) against NHSBSA dispensing (England) · report p.9
Most of the gap is timing and the supply chain, not diversion
2025 flower, tonnes: from 33.1 t of supply to 20.5 t dispensed in England
30.1
+2.0
+1.05
33.1
−1.5
−3.3–5.1
5.8–7.6
≥0.3
20.5
Imports
UK-grown
Jersey-grown
Supply
Exports
Timing lag
Unaccounted
Late reports
Dispensed
62% of supply reached English patients; with exports to Jersey, the 2–3 month import-to-patient lag and late reporting, 77–83% is accounted for. The 5.8–7.6 t left sits in stock, out-of-spec batches and the devolved nations.
Jersey-grown flower ships to the UK without counting as an import; Northern Leaf’s 3.6 t to Germany never enters UK supply · report p.10
Canada grows half of the flower England dispenses
Flower dispensed in 2025, share of grams by country of cultivation
Canada
49.0%
Portugal
23.7%
United Kingdom
6.8%
South Africa
3.5%
North Macedonia
2.2%
Spain
1.7%
Spread across 78 farms, none holding a tenth. The largest grower overall holds 21.5% and the ten largest 60%.
Grower = cultivating licence holder; 3% of 2025 flower has no resolved grower · NHSBSA, England only · report p.29
Canadian THC is the cheapest per milligram; UK-grown the dearest
Price per milligram of THC, 2025 flower, by origin, pence
South Africa
2.50p
Canada
2.59p
North Macedonia
2.67p
Portugal
2.80p
Spain
2.95p
United Kingdom
3.67p
Canadian flower costs more per gram than Portuguese (£6.84 against £6.06), but at 26.4% THC it is cheaper per milligram. UK-grown, at £7.83 and 21.4% THC, is the dearest THC on the shelf.
Weighted £ per gram ÷ (weighted THC% × 10 mg) · August 2026 list prices · report p.31
•Price · chapter 05
Prices are easing, and the cuts are landing on premium flower.
Two ways to read the same shelf: list prices SKU by SKU, and a basket weighted by what patients actually took home.
The cuts landed on the strongest flower
Like-for-like list-price change, October 2025 → August 2026, by THC band
Below 20% THC
−0.1%
20–24%
−2.1%
24–28%
−4.9%
28% and over
−7.7%
Across 400 flower SKUs listed at both dates, 75 were cut and lists fell 3.5% on average: −7.7% at 28% THC and over, almost nothing below 20%.
Same SKUs at two formulary dates, unweighted · report p.33
Weighted by what patients buy, the same basket is 5.0% cheaper
Fixed basket of 173 flower SKUs, list £ per gram
Oct 2025
£6.96
Feb 2026
£6.78
Aug 2026
£6.62
Brand switching added to it: patients moved to cheaper brands as well as cheaper prices, so the average gram fell further than any list.
Laspeyres basket at Oct–Dec 2025 weights · MedBud snapshots · report p.3
•Brands · chapter 04
Curaleaf’s brands fell from 61% of items to 26%, and three challengers built a five-group market.
Montu, counting Curo and Craft Botanics, is now the clear second at 15.2% of 2025 items, ahead of Cantourage and 4C Labs.
Curaleaf fell from 61% of items to 26%, and five groups now share the market
Share of items, % — Curaleaf brands and the five largest brand groups combined
Five largest groupsCuraleaf brands
Montu, Cantourage and 4C Labs went from 4.3% of items to 37.2%, while Curaleaf’s own items rose from 173k to 476k. Groups needed to reach 80% of items: 4 → 8.
Brand group = brands under one owner; Montu includes Curo and Craft Botanics; Cantourage’s 28 imported brands as one · report p.22
Curaleaf’s moat is formats, not flower
Curaleaf brands’ share of each format, 2025
Flower items
21%
Flower grams
26%
Vape cartridges
27%
Oil items
62%
Oral-solid pieces
99%
A fifth of flower items and a quarter of cartridges, but three fifths of oils and almost all oral solids. Its own items still rose 2.8-fold in two years, to 476k.
Items for flower and oils, pieces for oral solids · NHSBSA, England only · report p.24
Thirteen routes from grower to pharmacy
Hover or tap a route for its growers, brands, clinic and pharmacy. The percentage is its share of 2025 items. CB1 Medical, the largest clinic without a brand of its own, prescribes products from seven of them.
Vertically integratedClinic-ledImport or manufacturing platformBrand owner or distributorIntegrating 2025–26
Curaleaf26.5%Montu15.2%Cantourage11.1%4C Labs · Xeal10.9%Aurora6.4%Releaf5.2%Wellford1.8%Grow1.4%Mamedica1.1%Lyphe · Tilray0.9%IPS PharmaHilltop LeafHologram
Curaleaf
Vertically integrated
GrowersTerra Verde (PT), Northern Green (CA), Medalchemy (ES)
Importer · brandsCuraleaf Labs · Curaleaf, Adven, Four20, Find, Grassroots
Clinic · pharmacyCuraleaf Clinic · Curaleaf Pharmacy
2025 items26.5% of all items dispensed
Bid for Aurora, Aug 2026
Montu
Clinic-led
GrowersLittle Green Pharma (DK), ABcann (CA), other Canadian LPs
Importer · brandsvia IPS · Upstate, Sundaze, Circle, Curo, Craft Botanics
Clinic · pharmacyAlternaleaf · Montu Pharmacy
2025 items15.2% of all items dispensed
Curo and Craft Botanics counted in Montu
Cantourage
Import or manufacturing platform
GrowersLot420 · Green Karat (CA), Portocanna (PT), PharmaCann (MK)
Importer · brandsCantourage · 28 imported brands
Clinic · pharmacyCantourage Clinic · CB1 Medical · Cedarwood
2025 items11.1% of all items dispensed
4C Labs · Xeal
Brand owner or distributor
GrowersOrganigram, AgMedica, Rubicon (1964), MG Health (CA)
Importer · brands4C Labs · 4C Labs, 1964 Supply Co., Enua, Tofino
Clinic · pharmacySupplies Mamedica · CB1 Medical · Xeal Dispensary
2025 items10.9% of all items dispensed
Aurora
Integrating 2025–26
GrowersAurora Canada, Safari Flower (CA), Aurora Nordic (DK)
Importer · brandsInternode · Aurora, Pedanios
Clinic · pharmacyCB1 Medical (no own clinic) · HAP Pharma
2025 items6.4% of all items dispensed
Bought Internode and HAP Pharma, Aug 2026
Releaf
Clinic-led
GrowersGlass Pharms (UK), Somaí (PT)
Importer · brandsReleaf
Clinic · pharmacyReleaf · Releaf Dispensary
2025 items5.2% of all items dispensed
Wellford
Vertically integrated
GrowersAqualitas (CA) and partner growers
Importer · brandsTherismos · Therismos, Wellford, Aqualitas
Clinic · pharmacyWellford Clinics · Newgrove
2025 items1.8% of all items dispensed
Grow
Brand owner or distributor
GrowersPharmaCann (MK), SafriCanna (ZA), HollyMood (TH)
Importer · brandsAvida · Grow Pharma, SafriCanna, Broken Coast
Clinic · pharmacyAuravia · CB1 Medical · Grow pharmacy
2025 items1.4% of all items dispensed
Bought Avida, Jul 2025; now in a CVA
Mamedica
Clinic-led
GrowersCheers · Medz (CA), Miracle Valley (CA), Somaí, Glass Pharms
Importer · brandsMamedica + Cantourage · Mamedica, Cookies, N!CE, Bloom
Clinic · pharmacyMamedica · Mamedica Dispensary
2025 items1.1% of all items dispensed
Lyphe · Tilray
Vertically integrated
GrowersTilray Cantanhede (PT), GroVida (PT), ECS Botanics (AU)
Importer · brandsEaststone · Tilray, Broken Coast, Good, Noidecs
Clinic · pharmacyLyphe Clinic · CB1 Medical · Lyphe Dispensary
2025 items0.9% of all items dispensed
Tilray bought Lyphe, Apr 2026
IPS Pharma
Import or manufacturing platform
GrowersPharmaCann (MK), Aurora · Tilray, Northern Leaf (JE)
Importer · brandsIPS Pharma · Peace Naturals, Big Narstie, Puro, Vida
Clinic · pharmacyIntegro · CB1 Medical · IPS Pharmacy
Owns Integro
Hilltop Leaf
Import or manufacturing platform
GrowersLittle Green Pharma (DK), Aurora resin carts (CA), ECS (AU)
Importer · brandsHilltop Leaf · Hilltop, Little Green, Aurora carts
Clinic · pharmacyCB1 Medical and open market · —
Hologram
Import or manufacturing platform
GrowersSomaí (PT), Thai flower (TH)
Importer · brandsHologram · Somaí, Iridescent Med
Clinic · pharmacyOpen market · —
Ownership event, Sep 2026
CannaMonitor UK supply register, September 2026: company sites, Companies House, MHRA register and trade press, cross-checked with MedBud. A selected view, not the full set · report p.23
Every new entrant starts with flower
Brands dispensing at least one item in 2025, by format
Flower
107
Oils
20
Vapes
11
Pastilles
1
Flower went from 14 brands in 2021 to 107. Oils are the one format losing brands; vapes and pastilles are where 2026’s entrants land.
Brands with at least one dispensed item in the year · report p.25
•Patients and access · chapter 02
The clinic leaderboard turned over in a year.
Clinic traffic leads the dispensing record rather than mirroring it, which makes it the earliest signal of where patients are going.
Alternaleaf passed Releaf in May 2026, and CB1 Medical is the fastest climber
Share of tracked UK clinic web visits, %
ReleafAlternaleafCuraleaf ClinicCB1 Medical
Alternaleaf, Montu’s clinic, went from 163k monthly visits to 504k. CB1 Medical rose from 2.7% to 11.9% of tracked visits.
SimilarWeb estimates compiled monthly; Oct–Nov 2025 not captured · report p.14
From 17 prescribers to 253
Prescribers writing at least one dispensed item, by year
17
37
98
116
164
206
253
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
The five largest fell from 81% of items to 24%. One ID is still linked to 188,000 items: the record counts who signs repeats, not who decides.
Prescriber of record, pseudonymised · NHSBSA FOI-03965, England only · report p.12
•The product · chapters 03, 06 and 07
The product changed faster than the price.
Flower peaked at 84.9% of items in 2024, and vapes are taking the ground it gives up. The formulary lists 904 SKUs, but only 480 were in stock in August 2026.
3.0% → 8.9%
of items are vapes, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q4
33%
of cartridges are live resin or rosin, from zero
16% → 58%
of flower volume in 10 g packs, 2022 to 2025
545
SKUs dispensed for the first time in 2025
Flower potency rose every single quarter, to 24.9%
Volume-weighted THC of dispensed flower, %
From 18.4% in 2022. 29% of volume is now 28% THC or stronger, and Canadian flower already averages 26.3%.
Declared THC on the prescription, falling back to the product index · report p.36
The ten biggest products went from most of the market to a sixth of it
Share of items held by the ten largest SKUs
66%
59%
51%
25%
17%
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
In 2025 the biggest single SKU held less than 3%, and SKUs ranked 101 and below took 39% of items.
SKUs ranked inside each year · report p.19
•What to watch
Three things will decide the UK’s next year.
Each shows up in the next FOI release, formulary snapshot or import return, and each would move the numbers above by more than a rounding error.
01
Scale
Does the market almost double again?
If 2026 follows 2025, the UK approaches 150,000 patients and about £400m.
● Tracked in Decide · Every NHSBSA release
02
Diversity
Where does the next wave come from?
Vapes, pastilles and new brands keep arriving, turning a flower market into a multi-format one.
● Tracked in Decide · Every formulary snapshot
03
Price
Maturation, or stability?
Australia and Germany compressed as supply caught up. The UK basket is 5.0% cheaper in ten months.
● Tracked in Decide · Every dated list price
•Track record
We called it in 2024. The data confirmed it.
Every call below is dated and still online. We publish the UK numbers from the dispensing record, and we check ourselves against them.
Feb & Oct 2024
Growth
“The market will double again in 2024, and could pass 1 million items by 2025.”
2025 reached 1.79 million, 79% above the call.
✓ Beaten
Oct 2024
Potency
“An increasingly potency-focused market, with flower over 24% THC going from 3% to 22% of prescriptions.”
Weighted flower THC rose every quarter, from 18.4% to 24.9%.
✓ Confirmed
Oct 2024
Canada
“Canadian products were quickly gaining ground on a supply that was three-quarters European.”
Canada shipped 57% of UK flower imports in 2025, from 17%.
✓ Confirmed
Oct 2024
New formats
“Vapes, capsules and pastilles held about 1% of prescriptions, with room to grow.”
Vape cartridges grew 7.2 times in 2025, to 144k.
✓ Confirmed
Nov 2024
Curaleaf
“Curaleaf leads flower, oils and capsules.”
Still the largest group: its share fell, but its items rose to 476k and it holds 62% of oils.
✓ Confirmed
•Published intelligence on the UK
First on the UK numbers since 2024.
Each piece is built from the same dispensing record, newest first.
Oct 2026
1.79m
items dispensed in England, 2025
UK Medical Cannabis Market Report 2026
Get it free →22 Jul 2026
3
in-stock UK concentrates, against 98 in Ontario
Hash and rosin reach the international medical shelf
Read →14 May 2026
2% → 5%
vape share of items, 2024 to H1 2025
The UK market doubles again, and flower loses share
Read →8 Apr 2026
+267%
Canadian flower exports to the UK, 2025
Canada ships 276 tonnes in 2025, and the UK is its next unlock
Read →7 Oct 2024
3% → 22%
flower prescriptions over 24% THC, in a year
High-THC flower leads a market in full bloom
Read →16 Feb 2024
~3×
items in 2022, as private clinics took over onboarding
Clinics drive exponential growth in the UK market
Read →•Free · 46 pages · October 2026
Take the whole UK market with you.
An executive summary that opens with early 2026, seven chapters in the order you would size up any market, and what to watch next.
01 · pp. 5–10
The market
£165m
02 · pp. 11–14
Patients and access
253 prescribers
03 · pp. 15–20
The formulary
545 launches
04 · pp. 21–27
Brands
61% → 26%
05 · pp. 28–33
Supply, origin and price
−7.7% at 28%+ THC
06 · pp. 34–39
Flower
24.9% THC
07 · pp. 40–45
Extracts
33% live resin
→ · p. 46
What to watch
~£400m in 2026
Free download · PDF
UK Medical Cannabis Market Report, October 2026
Tell us where to send it and the PDF comes straight to your inbox.
If the form does not appear, email info@cannamonitor.com and we will send the report over.
•How we built it
England only and under-reported, so every figure is a floor.
Know the limits of the data before you rely on it. We measure the market from the dispensing record itself, test every cut, and leave out what fails.
1
Primary sources
Three NHSBSA freedom-of-information releases: 411,282 records and 3.62 million items, January 2019 to May 2026. Imports from Home Office FOIs, prices from dated formulary snapshots, clinic traffic from SimilarWeb.
2
Cross-validation
49,614 matched aliases and 4,478 strength-aware decisions resolve every line to a 1,192-SKU index. Item totals reconcile exactly to NHSBSA’s annual counts, and every cut is re-run on a hold-out.
3
We correct our own record
NHSBSA restates past months as late submissions land. The October 2026 re-extract lifted 2025 from 1,774,669 to 1,792,723 items. We replace the old year rather than add to it, and republish.
100%
items, pack size, date
reported directly
99.3%
of items, SKU identity
everything product-level
99.1%
of items, list price
value and price bands
92%
of 2025 flower, origin
origin and grower views
Withheld
importer and distributor
failed the hold-out as a time series
Sources: NHSBSA FOI_03941, FOI-03965 and FOI_04906 · Home Office import FOIs (10 Apr and 11 Aug 2026) · MedBud formulary snapshots Oct 2025, Feb 2026, Aug 2026 · SimilarWeb · Prohibition Partners for patient counts
•Free report or Decide
The report is dated October 2026. Decide keeps moving.
Every number in the report is a live dataset in Decide, updated as each FOI release, formulary snapshot and clinic month lands.
| What you get | Free report | Included in Decide |
|---|---|---|
| Market size and growth | ✓ 2021 to 2025, plus what early 2026 shows | ✓ Refreshed with each NHSBSA release |
| Products on the shelf | ✓ Shelf structure, launches and the biggest SKUs | ✓ Every SKU by format, brand group, strength and month |
| Brands | ✓ Brand-group shares, format moats and ranges | ✓ Every brand and owner, refreshed as ownership deals close |
| Prices | ✓ Three formulary dates, compared like for like | ✓ Every formulary snapshot, dated, and value at the prices of the day |
| Clinics | ✓ The leaderboard, September 2025 to August 2026 | ✓ Every tracked UK clinic, month by month |
| Supply chain | ✓ Thirteen routes from grower to pharmacy | ✓ Grower, importer and distributor per SKU, with ownership events |
| Other markets | ✓ The UK only | ✓ 120+ other markets on the same basis |
| Price | ✓ Free | ✓ €1,420 a year |
What neither can tell you. Dispensing in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (the NHSBSA release is England only); what a pharmacy actually charged (we hold list prices); prescriptions per clinic (visits measure reach, not scripts).
1,050+
company profiles
Every operator in the UK chain
270+
regulatory briefs
A living layer per market
•Questions
What people ask us about the UK report.
Is the report free?
Yes. Leave your work email and the full 46-page PDF comes straight to your inbox.
Where does the data come from?
From the NHSBSA’s own dispensing records, obtained through three freedom-of-information releases (FOI_03941, FOI-03965 and FOI_04906) covering private prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines dispensed in England from January 2019 to May 2026. Imports come from Home Office FOIs, prices from dated formulary snapshots and clinic traffic from SimilarWeb estimates we compile every month.
Does it cover the whole UK?
No, and we say so on every page. The release covers England only, and submissions are manual, so some never arrive. Treat every level as a floor: adding 20–25% is a conservative way to reach a total-UK view. Shares and trends are not affected.
How are values priced?
Each month is priced at the closest dated list price we hold for that product, so 2025 is valued at 2025 prices wherever a capture exists. A constant-price series at August 2026 lists sits beside it for trend; on that basis 2025 is £159m. We never add the two.
What about 2026?
January to March 2026 is still being completed, and two suppliers report months late: Curaleaf’s flower, oils and vapes, and Aurora. We publish only the findings those late submissions cannot overturn — list prices, the pastille record and new brands — and update the rest in Decide as records land.
Why count items rather than patients?
Because items are what the record contains. An item is one product dispensed once — a 10 g jar or a single vape cartridge. Patient counts come from Prohibition Partners and are attributed as such.
What is the difference between the report and Decide?
The report is a snapshot dated October 2026. Decide is where the same data keeps moving — every FOI release, formulary snapshot and clinic month as it arrives, alongside the same reconciled data for more than 120 other markets.
•United Kingdom
Stop reading about the UK. Start measuring it.
Start with the free report. When you need the numbers to keep moving, Decide is where they live, with 120+ other markets beside them.