The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced last week that the state’s cannabis dispensaries sold more than $1.5
worth of regulated marijuana products in 2022, setting new records for all categories tracking the performance of the state’s regulated cannabis industry.Adult-use cannabis dispensaries in Illinois in 2022 totaled $1,552,324,820, up about 12% from the year before. Last year’s $1.5 billion total was 131% higher than sales recorded by pot retailers in 2020, the first year of regulated recreational marijuana sales in Illinois. Sales figures do not include taxes levied on cannabis products, which are reported separately by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
“When I signed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act into law in 2019, we set out on an ambitious goal: to create the most equitable and economically prosperous cannabis industry in the nation. Our data from 2022 shows that we are well on our way towards making that idea a reality,” said Gov. JB Pritzker
“Not only did we break our previous sales record by more than 12% with a total of more than $1.5 billion, we also saw the first of our social equity adult use cannabis dispensaries open their doors for business — paving the way for an even stronger 2023.”Illinois Sales Totals Set New Annual Records
Data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) show that by November 2022, recreational marijuana sales at Illinois cannabis dispensaries had exceeded records set in 2021 in all categories tracked by the agency. Licensed cannabis dispensaries set new records for sales totals to both Illinois residents and visitors from out of state. Records were also set for the number of cannabis items sold by licensed dispensaries and for monthly sales totals.
In total, 36,435,129 items were sold in Illinois adult-use cannabis dispensaries in 2022, an increase of 20% from 2021. Sales to Illinois residents totaled $1,073,132,436 in 2022, an increase of almost 14% from 2021, while sales to out-of-state residents totaled $479,192,383, up nearly 10% compared to the previous year.
“This marks the second straight year that Illinois’ adult use cannabis industry has seen record-setting growth, and we are excited for what the future holds for the most equitable cannabis industry in the country,” said Mario Treto, Jr., Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. “We are optimistic the industry will only continue to flourish in 2023, as we welcome more dispensaries to Illinois.”
Currently, 113 adult-use cannabis dispensaries are serving recreational marijuana customers, including the first three social equity cannabis dispensaries that opened in 2022. Nearly 200 retail cannabis licenses, which are reserved for businesses owned by individuals who have been harmed by decades of marijuana prohibition, have been issued. But many of the businesses have so far struggled to raise the capital needed to open a dispensary and begin operations,
from the Chicago Tribune.While other states including Oregon, California and Massachusetts have seen wholesale cannabis prices plummet because of overproduction, Illinois only has 21 marijuana cultivation sites to serve the entire state’s market. As a result, cannabis prices in the Land of Lincoln have remained steadily high compared to other states.
In addition to the three social equity cannabis dispensaries that opened for business in 2022, another 189 businesses with conditional licensees are in the process of receiving their full dispensary licenses from the IDFPR. Dispensaries are not allowed to commence sales of adult-use cannabis before receiving their full license from the agency.
The IDFPR announced last month that applications for the next round of cannabis dispensary licenses will be accepted starting January 30, 2023. Additional information for prospective applicants is available on the department’s Adult Use Cannabis Program
.