Medicinal cannabis use in Australia grew fast from 2020 to 2024, then levelled off and, in the second half of 2025, fell for the first time on record. Most of what is supplied is THC-dominant, not CBD: in late 2024, 86.3% of units sold were Category 5 products.1 This page collects the official figures, says what period each covers, and notes what the numbers cannot tell you.
Data last checked: November 2026. Figures change as the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) revises its data, so always quote the period with the number.
What do these numbers count?
Three kinds of data exist, and they measure different things.
- Approvals. Most medicinal cannabis in Australia is “unapproved”, meaning the TGA has not assessed it, so a prescriber must use the Special Access Scheme Category B (SAS-B) or the Authorised Prescriber scheme. SAS-B needs a new approval for each patient and for each product category and format.2
- Units sold. Sponsors (the companies that supply products) report what they supply to the TGA every six months. One unit is one container, such as a bottle of oil or a jar of flower.3
- Surveys. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) asks people directly about their use.4
Approvals are not patients. The TGA does not record the number of patients. One person can hold several approvals, and an approval does not show whether anything was supplied.2 Units are not patients either: one patient may buy many containers.
These figures cover all medicinal cannabis. Unless a line says otherwise, they are not CBD figures. See CBD vs THC for the difference.
How many SAS-B approvals are there each year?
SAS-B approvals rose from 57,711 in 2020 to 177,762 in 2024, according to the TGA.5 The TGA’s chart gives the yearly totals below. Its chart label for 2024 (177,758) differs slightly from the figure in its text, which is normal for data the TGA revises over time.52
| Year | SAS-B approvals |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2,559 |
| 2019 | 25,155 |
| 2020 | 57,711 |
| 2021 | 121,932 |
| 2022 | 114,832 |
| 2023 | 126,946 |
| 2024 | 177,758 (177,762 in the TGA’s text) |
| 2025 (1 January to 31 July) | 131,495 |
By half-year, SAS-B approvals roughly doubled from 55,489 in January to June 2022 to 113,692 in January to June 2025.2
How many Authorised Prescriber approvals are there?
Most access now runs through the Authorised Prescriber scheme. Its approvals and notifications peaked at 428,841 in January to June 2024, then fell to 408,417 in July to December 2024 and 378,136 in January to June 2025 (data accessed by Penington Institute on 3 November 2025).2
| Half-year | Authorised Prescriber approvals and notifications |
|---|---|
| January to June 2024 | 428,841 |
| July to December 2024 | 408,417 |
| January to June 2025 | 378,136 |
How many prescribers are there?
The number of unique prescribers using SAS-B was 1,948 in July to December 2024 and 1,933 in January to June 2025.2 We could not find a published, current official count of Authorised Prescribers for medicinal cannabis. The TGA publishes an interactive dashboard,6 but its figures could not be read reliably for this page, so we have left that number out.
How many units of medicinal cannabis are sold?
Sponsor data released by the TGA under freedom of information (FOI) show units sold more than tripled from 2022 to 2024. Sales peaked at about 3.72 million units in July to December 2024, held at 3.70 million in January to June 2025, then fell to 2.65 million in July to December 2025.23
| Period | Units sold |
|---|---|
| 2022 (full year) | 1.68 million |
| 2023 (full year) | 3.20 million |
| 2024 (full year) | 6.59 million |
| July to December 2024 | 3.72 million |
| January to June 2025 | 3.70 million |
| July to December 2025 | 2.65 million |
Penington Institute called the 28.5% fall in late 2025 “the first significant decline in medicinal cannabis sales recorded in Australia under the existing framework” and linked it to enforcement against high-volume clinics and prescribers.3 That is its interpretation, not a TGA finding, and it rests on one half-year of data. Penington’s November 2025 report gave January to June 2025 as 3.71 million; its April 2026 report gives 3.70 million.23
In July to December 2024, 3,331,148 units were supplied under the Authorised Prescriber scheme and 389,973 under SAS-B.1 In January to June 2025, units under SAS-B rose to 453,479 while units under Authorised Prescribers fell to 3.26 million.2
How much is CBD-dominant and how much is THC?
Since November 2021 the TGA has sorted products into five categories by how much of the cannabinoid content is CBD.2 Category 1 is 98% or more CBD; Category 5 is less than 2% CBD, which in practice is mostly THC, though some Category 5 products are high in other cannabinoids.5 The categories describe the ratio, not the strength. More on how CBD is scheduled is in CBD scheduling explained.
We added up the TGA’s product-by-product supply table for July to December 2024. Of 3,720,959 units, 86.3% were Category 5 and 6.5% were in the two CBD-dominant categories.1
| TGA category (CBD share of cannabinoids) | Units, July to December 2024 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1: CBD 98% or more | 165,133 | 4.4% |
| 2: CBD 60% to under 98% | 75,475 | 2.0% |
| 3: CBD 40% to under 60% | 210,769 | 5.7% |
| 4: CBD 2% to under 40% | 58,733 | 1.6% |
| 5: CBD under 2% | 3,210,849 | 86.3% |
| Total | 3,720,959 | 100% |
Penington Institute reports a similar 85% Category 5 share for January to June 2025.2
Approvals look different from units. As at 31 July 2025, Category 5 made up 270,588 of 565,064 SAS-B applications in the TGA’s category chart (47.9%), which the TGA describes as “nearly half”; Categories 1 and 2 together made up 32.1%.5 One SAS-B approval can cover many units, which is why the shares differ.
| TGA category | SAS-B applications, as at 31 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| 1 | 103,084 |
| 2 | 78,472 |
| 3 | 89,549 |
| 4 | 23,371 |
| 5 | 270,588 |
CBD-only oral liquids
A separate TGA FOI release gives figures for Category 1 (CBD 98% or more) oral liquids, the product type most people mean by “CBD oil”.7
| Year | SAS-B approvals | Packs supplied under SAS | Products reported by sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19,792 | 45,600 | 97 |
| 2023 | 21,710 | 38,893 | 99 |
| 2024 | 29,165 | 57,093 | 142 |
| 2025 (January to May) | 12,880 | not yet reported | not yet reported |
The pack and product counts cover all oil and oral-liquid forms reported by sponsors, under SAS only.7
What are the most common indications?
The TGA reports indications for SAS-B approvals only, not for Authorised Prescriber approvals.2 For adults, chronic pain and anxiety lead by a wide margin.5 Penington Institute found that in the year to October 2025, 43.8% of SAS-B approvals were for chronic pain and 31.2% for anxiety.2 An indication on an approval is what the prescriber wrote, not evidence that the product works for it. For what trials found with CBD alone, see chronic pain and anxiety.
| Indication (adults) | SAS-B approvals, cumulative to 31 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Chronic pain | 361,368 |
| Anxiety | 213,689 |
| Sleep disorder | 55,963 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | 16,566 |
| Depression | 15,782 |
| Cancer pain and symptom management | 14,993 |
| Insomnia | 14,122 |
| Neuropathic pain | 9,159 |
| ADHD | 8,857 |
| Arthritis | 5,835 |
For children, the top indications in the same TGA dataset were autism spectrum disorder (3,216), anxiety (2,519), epilepsy (1,074) and ADHD (761).5
Which product formats are used?
By units sold, dried flower dominates. Flower sales peaked at 2.93 million units in July to December 2024 and were 2.72 million in January to June 2025. Inhalation products (liquid vapes and pressurised inhalers) and edibles grew over the same period.2
| Format | Units, July to December 2024 | Units, January to June 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Dried flower | 2.93 million | 2.72 million |
| Oral liquid | 454,633 | 421,595 |
| Inhalation | 245,273 | 370,390 |
| Edible | 89,491 | 195,540 |
Our own count of the TGA’s July to December 2024 table gives almost the same totals (for example, 2,926,357 units of dried herb and 454,620 of oral liquid).1
On approvals, the picture shifted in 2024. Since August 2024, more SAS-B approvals each month have been for dried flower than for oral liquid. In the year to October 2025, 38.8% of SAS-B approvals were for dried flower, 31.6% for oral liquid and 19.7% for edibles.2 Over the whole SAS-B record to 31 July 2025, the TGA lists oral liquid (about 299,970 applications), dried herb (254,960) and oil (44,570) as the three most common dosage forms.5
How big is supply and how many licences are there?
- The TGA says over 1,000 unapproved medicinal cannabis products are supplied in Australia, and over 99% of products prescribed are unapproved.5
- In 2024, Australia imported 77.4 tonnes of cannabis and produced 42.4 tonnes domestically, according to Office of Drug Control data cited by Penington Institute. Canada supplied 80% of imports.2
- The Office of Drug Control had 73 medicinal cannabis licence holders on 31 March 2026.8
Are there any over-the-counter or registered products?
No Schedule 3 (pharmacist-only, no prescription) CBD product is registered. In August 2025 the TGA said no complete application meeting the Schedule 3 requirements had been submitted or evaluated.5 Only two medicinal cannabis medicines are registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods: Epidyolex (CBD) and Sativex (nabiximols).5 See over-the-counter CBD and Epidyolex and Sativex. We could not find published PBS usage figures for Epidyolex to include here.
What does survey data say about use?
In the 2022 to 2023 NDSHS, 3.0% of people aged 14 and over (around 700,000) had used cannabis for medical purposes in the previous 12 months, with or without a prescription.4 Among them, 22% had always had it prescribed by a doctor, up from 1.8% in 2019 (a figure the AIHW says should be used with caution). Of people who used cannabis only for medical purposes, 70% did so without a prescription.4 This survey is now more than two years old and predates the 2024 peak in sales.
What enforcement figures has the TGA published?
- In the two years to June 2024, the TGA issued 165 infringement notices totalling more than $2.3 million and began 2 civil penalty proceedings over alleged unlawful advertising of medicinal cannabis.9
- On 30 October 2026 the Federal Court ordered a clinic operator to pay $6.5 million and its former director $450,000 in civil penalties for unlawful advertising of medicinal cannabis.10
- The TGA also recorded 1,101 adverse event cases linked to medicinal cannabis between 2016 and 31 July 2025, 24% reported as serious. It says under-reporting is likely.5
More on the rules is in why clinics cannot advertise CBD.
What could we not find?
- A current official count of Authorised Prescribers.
- TGA approval totals for August 2025 onward, from a source we could open and check.
- Units sold by category for any period other than July to December 2024 from primary data.
- PBS prescription counts for Epidyolex.
- Any official count of patients. None exists.
How to cite this page
CBD Love. “Medicinal cannabis in Australia: the numbers.” Data last checked November 2026. https://www.cbdlove.com.au/australia/medicinal-cannabis-in-numbers/
Where possible, cite the original source in the footnotes as well, and always give the period a figure covers. The tables on this page may be reused with attribution.
Footnotes
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. FOI 25-0145, units of unregistered medicinal cannabis products supplied by category, dosage form and pathway, 1 July to 31 December 2024 (released March 2025). Category totals and shares calculated by CBD Love. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-03/FOI%2025-0145%20Document.PDF ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
-
Penington Institute. Cannabis in Australia 2025, November 2025 (citing TGA SAS-B and Authorised Prescriber data accessed 3 November 2025, and TGA FOI sales data). https://www.penington.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Penington_Institute_Cannabis-in-Australia_Nov_2025.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16
-
Penington Institute. Medicinal cannabis sales and regulatory enforcement, April 2026 (citing Department of Health, Disability and Ageing FOI data). https://www.penington.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Penington-Institute-Medicinal-cannabis-sales-and-regulatory-enforcement-1.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
-
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022–2023: Medical marijuana/cannabis in the NDSHS. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/illicit-use-of-drugs/national-drug-strategy-household-survey-2022-2023/contents/detailed-findings/medical-marijuana-cannabis ↩ ↩2 ↩3
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Consultation: Reviewing the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products, August 2025 (text and Figures 1 to 5). https://consultations.tga.gov.au/medicines-regulation-division/test-soms/user_uploads/final---consultation-paper---medicinal-cannabis-review---august-2025.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Medicinal cannabis Special Access Scheme data (interactive dashboard). https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/explore-topic/medicinal-cannabis-hub/medicinal-cannabis-access-pathways-and-usage-data/medicinal-cannabis-special-access-scheme-data ↩
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. FOI 25-0200, Category 1 CBD oral liquid approvals, products and packs supplied, 2021 to May 2025 (released June 2025). https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/FOI%2025-0200.pdf ↩ ↩2
-
Office of Drug Control. Cost Recovery Implementation Statement: Regulation of medicinal cannabis 2026–27, 2026. https://www.odc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-07/cost-recovery-implementation-statement-regulation-of-medicinal-cannabis-2026-27.pdf ↩
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. More than $600,000 in fines issued for alleged unlawful medicinal cannabis advertising, 26 June 2024. https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/more-600000-fines-issued-alleged-unlawful-medicinal-cannabis-advertising ↩
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Federal Court civil penalty orders for unlawful advertising of medicinal cannabis, 30 October 2026. https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/court-orders-cda-clinics-qld-and-its-former-director-pay-695-million-unlawful-advertising-medicinal-cannabis ↩
Common questions
How many Australians use medicinal cannabis?
No official count exists. The TGA records approvals and sponsors report units sold, but neither counts people. The best survey estimate is from the 2022 to 2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, which found 3.0% of people aged 14 and over (around 700,000) used cannabis for medical purposes in the previous year, with or without a prescription.
Is most prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia CBD?
No. TGA supply data for July to December 2024 show 86.3% of units sold were Category 5 products, which contain less than 2% CBD relative to other cannabinoids and are mostly THC products. Products in the two CBD-dominant categories made up 6.5% of units.
Are medicinal cannabis sales still growing in Australia?
Not in the latest data. Units sold were flat between the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025, then fell 28.5% in the second half of 2025. That is one half-year of decline, so it is too early to call a lasting trend.
Why do approval numbers not equal patient numbers?
A prescriber needs a new SAS-B approval for each patient and for each product category and format, so one patient can have several approvals. Authorised Prescriber figures count approvals and notifications, not people. An approval also does not show whether a product was ever supplied.
This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
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