New York cannabis market reaches $1.6B in 2025 as retail footprint expands

Is there a better time to look at an entire year than when it is over? The answer is probably yes. However, the 2025 New York cannabis market report was released this week, making this the moment to look back at the market's performance over the past year. Let's dive into the numbers.

Cannabis sales in 2025
As of November 30, 2025, combined adult use and medical cannabis sales reached roughly $1.6 billion, which is definitely an increase when compared to $1.0 billion in 2024 and $317.4 million in 2023. As it's the case in other state with both medical and recreational program, the growth was mainly driven by the adult use segment as medical sales continued to decline. New York City led regional sales, followed by Long Island.

Retail expansion seemed to have been one of the contributing factors that fueled this growth. Adult use dispensaries increased from 34 at the end of 2023 to 519 by November 30, 2025.

According to the report, early mover advantage is real. Early store openings benefited from limited competition and unusually high per store sales in 2023. But every day is not Sunday, and with new dispensaries coming online, that dynamic inevitably changed. As of Q3 2025, sales per store averaged roughly $3.8 million, with Long Island, Mid-Hudson, and New York City outperforming due to population density and spending power.