Illinois is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the legalization of adult use cannabis in the state with a fourth consecutive year of record-setting sales. Overall, dispensaries report that more than $2 billion of cannabis product was sold in 2024, a 2.5% increase from 2023. The $2 billion of product includes a record-setting $1.722 billion in adult use cannabis sales in 2024, with medical cannabis sales exceeding $285 million. Sales taxes collected at Illinois cannabis dispensaries totaled more than $490 million in 2024, per the Illinois Department of Revenue.
"The numbers are clear: five years after we legalized adult use cannabis in Illinois, we're seeing the economic impact of a thriving cannabis industry," said Governor JB Pritzker. "With $2 billion in record-setting sales and $490 million generated in tax revenue, our first-in-the-nation equity-focused cannabis industry is the result of my administration's policies, which prioritized repairing the damage done by the failed War on Drugs, creating more good-paying jobs, and building a safe, equitable, and prosperous business sector—making Illinois by far the national leader in diverse ownership for this industry."
In total, a record-setting 56,318,082 cannabis items were sold to customers in 2024, which shattered the previous record set in 2023 by more than 13%. This includes 48,953,392 items sold in Illinois adult use cannabis dispensaries, which represents another record total. Additionally, adult use cannabis sales to Illinois residents totaled nearly $1.34 billion, an increase of almost 10% from the previous record set in 2023. More than $385 million of adult use cannabis product was also purchased by out-of-state residents. IDFPR's complete adult use cannabis monthly sales tracker may be found online here, with additional data available on the Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office website.
"As additional dispensaries open their doors, that increased competition leads to increased availability of product and better prices for consumers - just as we anticipated," said Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer Erin Johnson. "We look forward to the continued growth and success of Illinois' cannabis industry, leading to further economic development and public awareness and support for responsible consumption."
There are currently 244 adult use cannabis dispensaries in Illinois, including 134 social equity dispensaries that have opened their doors. Seventy applicants selected in the 2022 social equity lotteries are still in the process of receiving their full dispensary licenses from IDFPR, as are 51 applicants selected in the Social Equity Criteria Lottery (SECL) in July 2023.
