Report: Consumable Hemp Market Estimated At $47 to 64 Billion In 2025

A report from Whitney Economics, published in March 2026, puts the hemp-derived cannabinoid market at between $47.3 and $64.1 billion in 2025. This nearly doubles the $28.4 billion reported in 2023 and shows growing momentum even as Congress has moved to eliminate the industry.

Here are a few key takeaways from the report:

1. The Market Isn’t Waiting for Washington

The hemp-derived cannabis industry has always been under pressure, but 2025 was a difficult year for farms, businesses, and consumers. Several state legislatures moved to restrict or ban products, igniting legislative battles with mixed results. Then, an appropriations bill, signed into law in November and set to take effect in November of this year, rewrote the definition of hemp to effectively ban the entire category.

Through it all, the market has kept growing.

Despite federal uncertainty and state-level bans, consumers have kept buying, new retailers have kept opening, and revenues have kept climbing.

Hemp THC products make up an established consumer market with surging demand. Federal policy is completely out of step with this reality.

2. From $28 Billion to $64 Billion

The $28.4 billion figure, widely used as the benchmark for policy discussions, comes from a 2023 Whitney Economics national survey.

For the 2025 update, Whitney analyzed five states for which fresh data was available: Florida, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, and Tennessee. These five states represented nearly 40% of the entire U.S. market in 2023. From 2023 to 2025, revenues grew between 32% and 79% across all five states. Whitney applied those growth rates to the national picture to produce two estimates.

The conservative estimate puts the 2025 market at $37.5 to $50.9 billion. The higher estimate puts it at $47.3 to $64.1 billion.

Even the most conservative figure far exceeds what policymakers have been referencing.

3. Five States, One Clear Trend

Every state in Whitney’s analysis saw increases. Here’s the data:

State	Retailers (2023)	Retailers (2025)	% Change	Avg. Rev/Store (2023)	Avg. Rev/Store (2025)	% Change	Total Retail (2023)	Total Retail (2025)	% Change
Florida	9,558	9,438	-1%	$789,519	$1,200,000	+152%	$7,546,222,602	$11,325,600,000	+150%
Texas	4,468	7,550	+69%	$325,579	$567,226	+74%	$1,454,686,972	$4,282,555,168	+194%
Illinois	1,024	1,000	-2%	$815,720	$858,342	+5%	$835,297,280	$858,342,000	+3%
Tennessee	688	2,405	+250%	$815,720	$705,367	-14%	$561,215,360	$1,696,407,635	+202%
North Carolina	931	2,197	+136%	$815,720	$841,517	+3%	$759,435,320	$1,848,812,117	+143%
Total	16,669	22,590	+36%	$669,318	$885,866	+32%	$11,156,857,534	$20,011,716,919	+79%

Despite different regulatory environments, the pattern holds across these five states:

• Florida, even while tightening regulatory controls, saw average revenue per store jump 152%, with total retail revenue climbing from $7.5 billion to $11.3 billion.
• Texas was the standout growth story. The number of permitted retailers nearly tripled, average revenue per store grew 174%, and total market revenue increased nearly 300%, from $1.5 billion to $4.3 billion.
• Illinois held relatively flat on retailer count but maintained strong average revenues, benefiting partly from the state’s high marijuana tax, which pushes consumers toward hemp-derived products. The report notes that hemp beverage sales in bars and restaurants, which weren’t captured in the data, would add another $128 million to the total.
• North Carolina doubled its market after adopting business-friendly policies that have attracted companies relocating from other states.
• Tennessee saw retailer count grow 250% and total revenue more than triple, even as average revenue per store declined.

When consumers have access, they buy.

4. Jobs, Wages, and What a Ban Would Actually Eliminate

The hemp-derived products industry now supports between 375,000 and 473,000 American jobs, up from 328,000 in 2023. These are retail, manufacturing, distribution, and farming jobs spread across all 50 states, generating more than $13 billion in wages.

The Whitney analysis applies a 2.4x economic multiplier to hemp retail spending. At the upper end, that puts the total economic impact of this industry at between $91.5 billion and $153.9 billion.

Eliminating this industry would have devastating consequences for tens of thousands of American workers.

5. Banning Hemp Hasn’t Moved Consumers to Marijuana

In states that banned hemp products, marijuana sales did not increase.

Consumers didn’t switch. Instead, they went online or crossed into neighboring states. The bans didn’t eliminate consumer spending on these products. They pushed activity into grey zones and out of state tax bases.

If the federal ban goes into effect, however, there won’t be potential relief in a neighboring state.

When out-of-state shipping isn’t an option, the black market will fill the gap.

The Policy Gap

The 2026 report shows the industry is now nearly twice the size it was when the ban was passed. The ban is still scheduled to take effect. And the market keeps accelerating.

The hemp industry is asking for reasonable regulation, including age-gating, banning synthetics, implementing testing and packaging standards, and more.

There’s still time for Congress to course-correct. But convincing legislators will require an understanding of the most current data available on this industry.

Make sure your legislators know what’s at stake.

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