Prohibition Partners data show the UK medical cannabis market expanded sharply in 2025, driven by a surge in imported product and rapid growth in patient access. Imports topped more than 30,000 kilograms of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBPMs) in 2025—more than double the previous year and the second consecutive year of similar doubling. The report projects the market will add over 40,000 patients by the end of 2026.
Supply shifts and market share Canadian supply dominated the change in 2025. Exports from Canada to the UK rose by more than 560% in a single year, and Prohibition Partners estimates Canada now supplies 70–80% of CBPMs entering the UK once product routed through processing hubs such as Portugal is included. That share is far higher than official Home Office figures indicate.
The rapid growth from Canada has displaced other exporters. Spain supplied over 50% of Britain’s medical cannabis as recently as 2023; by the end of 2025 Spain’s share had fallen to roughly 11%. Australia and North Macedonia also recorded sharp declines. Domestic UK cultivation supplied about 14% of total CBPMs in 2025 and is expected to fall as imports grow faster than local production can scale.
Product mix and pricing The number of distinct medical cannabis products on the UK market more than doubled between April 2025 and March 2026. Dried flower now represents roughly 80% of available SKUs. Suppliers also expanded vape SKUs—those doubled over the same period—as firms sought product differentiation beyond the dominant format.
Prices moved lower. The average price for medical cannabis flower fell in the past year, and vape prices dropped by more than 20% in the ten months to March 2026. Prohibition Partners forecasts further price declines through 2030. Companies that operate in-house Schedule 1-to-Schedule 2 processing chains appear better positioned to protect margins; firms without those capabilities face increasing margin pressure as wholesale prices compress.
Demand and distribution Telemedicine now drives most prescribing. About 80% of prescriptions are issued through fewer than a dozen telemedicine platforms, mirroring patterns seen in Germany, Australia and Poland. That model has enabled rapid patient growth outside the National Health Service: the UK market has expanded almost entirely through private clinics and remote-prescribing services rather than routine NHS provision.
Regulatory scrutiny and risks Regulators are responding to the fast pace of change. The Care Quality Commission has raised concerns about clinical oversight and prescribing consistency at some private clinics. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) plans a formal review of the UK medical cannabis framework in 2026 or 2027, and that review will likely examine telemedicine prescribing practices. Prohibition Partners notes that when access rules tighten—Poland’s telemedicine restriction in late 2024 offers a precedent—prescription volumes can fall quickly and recover only slowly.
Market outlook Prohibition Partners projects the UK market will gain more than 40,000 patients by end-2026 and that industry revenues could approach £1 billion within four years if current trends continue. Key variables that could change that trajectory include regulatory action on telemedicine, further shifts in international supply chains, and changes to domestic cultivation capacity.
Implications for suppliers and patients For suppliers, the current environment favors high-volume exporters and companies with integrated processing that reduce costs between raw flower and licensed medicinal products. For patients, the market expansion has increased product choice—especially for dried flower and vape formats—but also introduced variability in price and clinic practices. Regulators’ actions in 2026–2027 will determine whether access tightens, remains steady, or shifts toward more NHS involvement.
Source This summary is based on the Prohibition Partners UK Medical Cannabis Market Update 2026 and related market datasets published in 2026.
