Germany’s cannabis imports, according to the latest figures from BfArM, nearly tripled in size in 2025, cementing it beyond any doubt as the engine behind Europe’s medical cannabis boom.
Imports surpassed their already increased quota to hit 200 tonnes last year, up from just 72 tonnes in 2024, which was itself a record-breaking year.
This blistering growth has attracted plenty of investment, including major acquisitions from leading North American operators, and medical cannabis companies from across the globe are scrambling to position themselves to make the most of this opportunity.
However, the flood of products has, in turn, driven prices down, competition up, and raised real concerns about the sustainability of this boom. With many operators warning of oversupply and persistent pressure from the government to rein in the market, these concerns are legitimate.
But not everyone is concerned. Some, including leading distributor Cansativa, see these dynamics as a temporary period of ‘normalisation’, a market correcting itself after a sustained period of rapid expansion.
Benedikt Sons, who co-founded the company alongside his brother Jakob, told Business of Cannabis: “From our vantage point as Europe’s largest pharmaceutical cannabis distributor, we do not see structural oversupply. What we are witnessing is a normalisation phase in a rapidly institutionalising market.”
As we reported last week, the final quarter of 2025 saw a slight dip in imports, a dip also seen in Q4 of 2024.
Until BfArM releases the import figures from Q1 2026, currently the best indicator of the size of the market since patient numbers stopped being reported, it’s impossible to determine whether this marks the start of a slowdown in the market.
Cansativa, which imports from 18 countries around the world, believes that the dramatic spike in imports since the implementation of CanG in April 2024 is illustrative of more than Germany’s domestic demand.
“Import growth reflects not only domestic consumption but Germany’s strategic role as Europe’s supply gateway. We import from 18 countries, conduct centralised pharmaceutical quality testing and distribute through thousands of pharmacies while also exporting into multiple European jurisdictions.
“The United Kingdom, in particular, is experiencing strong growth in prescription volumes and values the German pharmaceutical mindset and quality standards. We are seeing increasing export demand not only from the UK but also from Switzerland, Poland and other regulated European markets that rely on Germany’s infrastructure expertise.”
According to the same dataset recently released by the German regulator, exports of medical flower actually fell overall in 2025, and only represented a fraction of what was imported.
The data shows cannabis flower exports peaked at 2,505kg in the fourth quarter of 2024 before declining throughout 2025. Total exports fell from approximately 7,429 kg in 2024 to 5,962 kg in 2025, a drop of around 20%. The trend reflects Germany’s evolving role in the European supply chain, with domestic demand and rising imports increasingly outweighing outbound shipments.
This could be partially due to reporting inconsistencies. As Sons points out, BfArM’s figures are not comprehensive: “A portion of imported product is rejected or destroyed during quality control, which is standard in pharmaceutical distribution and often misinterpreted as excess supply.”
A key signifier of oversupply is the decline in prices. Between late 2023 and mid-2025, the price per gram of cannabis flower across all THC categories fell by roughly 30%.
According to Sons, this dynamic is largely driven by telemedicine services using aggressive pricing strategies and ‘cross-subsidised prescription platforms’ to secure volume.
“That dynamic created short-term distortion but not structural demand weakness. As regulatory tightening progresses, we expect equilibrium to return. From an infrastructure perspective, this is a cyclical correction, not a systemic issue,” he explained.
However, with pressure from the government, media and medical community to bring in heavier regulation on these operators, Cansativa believes the market will ‘ultimately reward compliance and reliability’.
“Medical cannabis in Germany is dispensed as a prescription medicine through pharmacies. That creates durable demand anchored in healthcare, not consumer volatility. Traceability, pharmacovigilance and standardised quality control are mandatory,” Sons continued.
“Some market participants have accepted significant losses to gain short-term market share through digital channel steering. That model is not sustainable. Cansativa built its platform around diversified international sourcing, centralised quality assurance and deep pharmacy integration. We operate profitably today because we focused on infrastructure first.”
As such, he expects regulatory enforcement increases to open the door for ‘margin normalisation across the supply chain’, in turn making the market more attractive for investment.
“For institutional investors, compliance-heavy infrastructure with positive cash flow resilience is structurally advantaged.”
This transition from ‘speculative expansion to regulated healthcare infrastructure’ is, according to Sons, not only welcome but necessary for the market to reach its full potential.
“Based on our internal market modelling and distribution data, we estimate that Germany alone has a long-term annual potential of approximately €8 billion as a regulated medical cannabis market.
“At the European level, we see aggregate annual market potential exceeding €20 billion, with Germany positioned as the central pharmaceutical hub within that ecosystem. More importantly, Europe as a whole represents a structural megatrend.”
This trend, he explains, is seeing cannabis medicine increasingly align with ‘broader healthcare shifts in much the same way innovative metabolic treatments captured demand in their respective categories’.
“Patients are increasingly seeking alternatives to traditional pain medications. There is growing interest in plant-based therapies and regulated cannabis formats such as standardised flower and THC-based inhalation products.
“It reflects changing patient expectations and evolving therapeutic preferences. We believe this is not a short-lived cycle. It is a structural reallocation within healthcare.”
The post Is the German Cannabis Boom Slowing Down, or Simply Normalising? appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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Imports surpassed their already increased quota to hit 200 tonnes last year, up from just 72 tonnes in 2024, which was itself a record-breaking year.
This blistering growth has attracted plenty of investment, including major acquisitions from leading North American operators, and medical cannabis companies from across the globe are scrambling to position themselves to make the most of this opportunity.
However, the flood of products has, in turn, driven prices down, competition up, and raised real concerns about the sustainability of this boom. With many operators warning of oversupply and persistent pressure from the government to rein in the market, these concerns are legitimate.
But not everyone is concerned. Some, including leading distributor Cansativa, see these dynamics as a temporary period of ‘normalisation’, a market correcting itself after a sustained period of rapid expansion.
Benedikt Sons, who co-founded the company alongside his brother Jakob, told Business of Cannabis: “From our vantage point as Europe’s largest pharmaceutical cannabis distributor, we do not see structural oversupply. What we are witnessing is a normalisation phase in a rapidly institutionalising market.”
Oversupply, or cyclical correction?
As we reported last week, the final quarter of 2025 saw a slight dip in imports, a dip also seen in Q4 of 2024.
Until BfArM releases the import figures from Q1 2026, currently the best indicator of the size of the market since patient numbers stopped being reported, it’s impossible to determine whether this marks the start of a slowdown in the market.
Cansativa, which imports from 18 countries around the world, believes that the dramatic spike in imports since the implementation of CanG in April 2024 is illustrative of more than Germany’s domestic demand.
“Import growth reflects not only domestic consumption but Germany’s strategic role as Europe’s supply gateway. We import from 18 countries, conduct centralised pharmaceutical quality testing and distribute through thousands of pharmacies while also exporting into multiple European jurisdictions.
“The United Kingdom, in particular, is experiencing strong growth in prescription volumes and values the German pharmaceutical mindset and quality standards. We are seeing increasing export demand not only from the UK but also from Switzerland, Poland and other regulated European markets that rely on Germany’s infrastructure expertise.”
According to the same dataset recently released by the German regulator, exports of medical flower actually fell overall in 2025, and only represented a fraction of what was imported.
The data shows cannabis flower exports peaked at 2,505kg in the fourth quarter of 2024 before declining throughout 2025. Total exports fell from approximately 7,429 kg in 2024 to 5,962 kg in 2025, a drop of around 20%. The trend reflects Germany’s evolving role in the European supply chain, with domestic demand and rising imports increasingly outweighing outbound shipments.
This could be partially due to reporting inconsistencies. As Sons points out, BfArM’s figures are not comprehensive: “A portion of imported product is rejected or destroyed during quality control, which is standard in pharmaceutical distribution and often misinterpreted as excess supply.”
Price compression
A key signifier of oversupply is the decline in prices. Between late 2023 and mid-2025, the price per gram of cannabis flower across all THC categories fell by roughly 30%.
According to Sons, this dynamic is largely driven by telemedicine services using aggressive pricing strategies and ‘cross-subsidised prescription platforms’ to secure volume.
“That dynamic created short-term distortion but not structural demand weakness. As regulatory tightening progresses, we expect equilibrium to return. From an infrastructure perspective, this is a cyclical correction, not a systemic issue,” he explained.
However, with pressure from the government, media and medical community to bring in heavier regulation on these operators, Cansativa believes the market will ‘ultimately reward compliance and reliability’.
“Medical cannabis in Germany is dispensed as a prescription medicine through pharmacies. That creates durable demand anchored in healthcare, not consumer volatility. Traceability, pharmacovigilance and standardised quality control are mandatory,” Sons continued.
“Some market participants have accepted significant losses to gain short-term market share through digital channel steering. That model is not sustainable. Cansativa built its platform around diversified international sourcing, centralised quality assurance and deep pharmacy integration. We operate profitably today because we focused on infrastructure first.”
As such, he expects regulatory enforcement increases to open the door for ‘margin normalisation across the supply chain’, in turn making the market more attractive for investment.
“For institutional investors, compliance-heavy infrastructure with positive cash flow resilience is structurally advantaged.”
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A ‘structural megatrend’
This transition from ‘speculative expansion to regulated healthcare infrastructure’ is, according to Sons, not only welcome but necessary for the market to reach its full potential.
“Based on our internal market modelling and distribution data, we estimate that Germany alone has a long-term annual potential of approximately €8 billion as a regulated medical cannabis market.
“At the European level, we see aggregate annual market potential exceeding €20 billion, with Germany positioned as the central pharmaceutical hub within that ecosystem. More importantly, Europe as a whole represents a structural megatrend.”
This trend, he explains, is seeing cannabis medicine increasingly align with ‘broader healthcare shifts in much the same way innovative metabolic treatments captured demand in their respective categories’.
“Patients are increasingly seeking alternatives to traditional pain medications. There is growing interest in plant-based therapies and regulated cannabis formats such as standardised flower and THC-based inhalation products.
“It reflects changing patient expectations and evolving therapeutic preferences. We believe this is not a short-lived cycle. It is a structural reallocation within healthcare.”
The post Is the German Cannabis Boom Slowing Down, or Simply Normalising? appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
