Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) has published the medical cannabis import figures for Q3, showing that the country’s medical cannabis market is still growing rapidly.
Since April 01, 2024, and the implementation of CanG and MedCanG, cannabis has no longer been considered a ‘narcotic’ substance in Germany, making the process of both securing and prescribing medical cannabis significantly easier.
In the third quarter, medical cannabis imports grew by over 70% from the previous period, the first full three months in which Germany’s sweeping cannabis reforms were put into place.
While it’s unclear how much of these imports actually made it to pharmacies, as these figures are no longer tracked by BfArM, industry insiders suggest these levels have also risen since April.
The figures
Overall imports of cannabis for medical and medical-scientific purposes in the form of dried flowers (in kg ) grew to 20.1 tonnes in Q3, a 71.9% rise on Q2 2024, and a 140% increase on the same period a year earlier.
This means total imports now stand at 39.8 tonnes for the first nine months of the year, a 21.4% increase compared to the whole year of 2023.Canada remains the largest exporter to Germany by some margin and saw exports rise 72% (8098 kg) in the third quarter alone.
To date, Canada has exported 19201 kg in 2024, already surpassing last year’s total of 16895 kg, which itself was double the volume of 2022.
The dominance of Canadian imports has been a growing trend across Europe over the past few years, with large Canadian companies prioritising exports to the European medical market due to the more favourable prices in comparison with the highly taxed domestic market.
This has already caused pushback in multiple markets. In July, Business of Cannabis reported that Israel had come to a ‘preliminary decision’ to tax Canadian cannabis imports after the Israeli Ministry of Economy launched an investigation into the market in January amid complaints from local producers of ‘product dumping’.
Last week, the ministry published a final report on the issue, revealing that Canadian cannabis could now be taxed up to 175% in order to even out price pressure on Israeli companies.
Australian cannabis companies are now beginning to make similar complaints of product dumping, stating that they’re struggling to compete with Canadian prices.
It’s unclear whether this will also become a problem in Germany, given that the levels of demand are still fluctuating.
Another increasingly dominant exporter is Portugal, which has imported 7803 kg so far this year, on track to double from 2023’s 4118 kg.
This was also true with Denmark, which has seen is also on track to double exports to Germany this year, rising from 2353 kg in 2023 to 4222 as of Q3 2024.
Conversely, the Netherlands has seen volumes drop significantly, with exports so far in 2024 (1227) around half last year’s total of 2537.
Imports vs. demand
A key issue for both importers and exporters is matching imports to actual demand, with little in the way of official statistics on how much cannabis makes it into patients hands and how much is destroyed.
Prior to the passage of CanG, around 60% of imports actually made it to patients.
Bloomwell Group CEO and Co-Founder, Niklas Kouparanis, told Business of Cannabis that he believes this ratio is now shifting.
“The new BfArM data shows that in Q3 the imports are 2.5 times higher than in Q1, the last quarter before the reclassification of medical cannabis went into effect on April 1 2024. This growth is mainly driven by greater patient access and, for those who prefer it, a completely digital treatment for patients, including telehealth doctors’ appointments and e-prescriptions with delivery.
“Data from the Bloomwell platform actually even outperforms the import numbers by far. In October 2024, the number of new patients on the Bloomwell digital platform and app was 15 times greater than in March of this year. Tens of thousands of patients now receive care through Bloomwell’s medical cannabis platform every month.
“Nobody knows the exact volumes that have been provided to pharmacies since then due to the fact that after the reclassification this reporting is obsolete. I personally assume that now a higher amount of the available medical cannabis reaches the patients. Still, the biggest achievement of the German cannabis industry since April 2024 has been to manage this impressive growth without any shortages of supply.”
This issue and more will be available in Prohibition Partners‘ upcoming report, The Global Cannabis Report: 5th Edition, which is now available to pre-order. Additionally, this topic will be discussed at the upcoming Business of Cannabis: Berlin Executive Summit.
