Global CBD Statistics 2021 

• CBD oil is most popular in the United Kingdom, as more searches are made for ‘CBD oil’ in the UK than any other country.
• People in the Republic of Ireland, Canada, Australia and the USA also search online for CBD oil more frequently than other countries around the world. 
• In countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Saudi Arabia you could face up to 12 years in prison for using CBD oil. 

The global CBD oil market is one that’s ever-expanding, and in recent years has proven to be a very lucrative market, with a current predicted growth rate of 31.9% between 2020 and 2027. In this article, we reveal just how fast the global CBD market is growing, the countries where CBD is most popular and the latest information on CBD laws around the world. 

We also discuss the impact the Coronavirus pandemic has had on the global CBD industry, as we reveal all of the latest CBD statistics for 2021. 

CBD Global Trends 2021

With an estimated worth of approximately $9.3 billion, predicted to rise to $23.6 billion by 2025, the CBD market is one of the world’s fastest growing niche industries to date. 

The hashtag #CBD has now been used on Instagram over 12 million times, with CBD oil (#cbdoil) being used more than 2 million times, whether that’s by brands advertising their products, consumers sharing their favourite types of CBD or medical patients providing insights into how CBD based products have helped them. 

• #cbd: 12,306,558 posts
• #cbdoil: 3,175,483 posts

Google searches for CBD are also on the rise, with search volumes accelerating rapidly over the last 5 years. As you can see on the graph below, interest in CBD began to gradually increase from 2004 to around 2017 when searches rose dramatically until their peak in 2019. 

Global ‘CBD’ search interest between 2004-2020. Source: Google Trends

How has COVID impacted the global CBD market? 

As you can see on the graph, searches for CBD took a nosedive in March 2020 at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown. However, soon after, searches began to increase once more, as the world began to adapt to the new changes, challenges and restrictions brought about by the pandemic. 

A surge in demand for CBD oil has even been observed over the last year, with an apparent rise in the number of consumers seeking CBD products for relaxation purposes. What’s more, numerous studies have been conducted over the last 12 months which have suggested a link between CBD consumption and improved oxygen levels in COVID patients. 

These findings, alongside Biden’s presidential win and recent advances in CBD laws in countries such as Mexico suggest that the CBD industry has been relatively successful in light of the recent COVID pandemic. 

Where is CBD oil legal around the world?

With the World Health Organisation having confirmed its safety, benefits and low risk, it would be easy to assume that most countries around the world would have legalised the use of CBD oil. However, as you can see from the map below, only 58 countries have legalised the use of CBD oil and various restrictions apply. 

Which countries around the world have legalised CBD oil? And what’s the legal THC level in each country?

As you can see, in countries such as Lithuania, Albania and Slovakia, use of CBD oil is illegal. Punishments vary from country to country, however amongst the most strict are the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, where possession of CBD oil can land you in prison for up to 12 years. 

Different states in the US also have varying laws when it comes to CBD oil use. As shown on the above map, most US states have legalised CBD oil, as long as it does not contain more than the permissible amount of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol – the psychoactive constituent of cannabis). This amount differs from state to state, and some states have rather strict regulations surrounding its use. 

For instance in Kansas, CBD products containing any amount of THC are forbidden. This makes it extremely difficult to legally purchase and use CBD oil as most oils contain at least trace amounts of THC. 

All details from our investigation into which countries have legalised CBD oil can be found here. 

Where in the world is CBD most popular?

So now we know which countries allow the use of CBD oil. But which countries use CBD the most? And where in the world is CBD oil most sought after? To find out, we used the search tool Keyword Finder, which enabled us to discover the average search volume by country for the term ‘CBD Oil’. Our analysis found that: 

• People in the UK search online for ‘CBD oil’ more than any other country, with around 30 in every 1,000 people searching for the term in the past year*. 

• The Republic of Ireland, Canada and Australia follow next, with the USA following closely behind Australia, as 16 in every 1,000 Americans searched for ‘CBD oil’ in the last year. 

• Also amongst the top 10 countries for CBD oil interest are New Zealand, Malta, Cyprus, Hong Kong and Greece. 

Average number of searches for ‘CBD Oil’ Per 1,000 people in the last 12 months. 

Methodology: To discover where in the world CBD oil is most popular, we analysed search volumes from the online search tool Keyword Finder. This allowed us to find the average monthly search volumes per country for the term ‘CBD oil’ in the last 12 months (January 2020 to January 2021). 

We then multiplied these figures by 12 which gave us global annual search volumes for each country, before dividing each figure by the country’s population which gave us the average number of yearly searches per person. To find out the number of searches conducted per 1,000 people, we then multiplied this figure by 1,000 which gave us the data presented in the graph above. 

Our raw data can be found here.

*It’s important to note that each search does not necessarily represent an individual, as multiple searches may have been made by the same individual. What’s more, our search volume analysis only included countries where CBD oil was legal (as of January 19th 2020).

We hope this article has been useful in giving you all of the latest global CBD statistics for 2021. If you’d like to find out more country-specific statistics, check out our recent article on US Marijuana statistics.