Croatia is one of the most popular countries in Europe for cannabis activity. Cannabis is considered to be a ‘soft drug’ in Croatia, with personal possession being penalized with a fine versus jail time. Adults caught with a personal amount of cannabis in the European country face a fine between €650-2,600.
While non-hemp recreational cannabis commerce remains prohibited in Croatia, medical cannabis has been legal since 2015, making Croatia the first Balkan country to modernize its medical cannabis laws and regulations.
“Doctors will be able to prescribe medicine, teas and ointment containing THC, the active element in cannabis, to their patients. Regulations permit each patient to receive up to 0.75 grammes of THC per month.” reported Balkan Insight in its local coverage at the time.
“CBD is legal in Croatia, so long as it has 0.2% THC or less. You can find CBD products online and in retail stores throughout the country.” states Cannigma regarding Croatia’s emerging cannabidiol industry.
‘Cannabis light,’ which CBD products containing low amounts of THC are often referred to in Europe, is very popular among Croatia’s cannabis consumers.
According to the European Union Drugs Agency’s most recent annual report, 5.6% of adults report having consumed cannabis in the last month. That is the fifth greatest monthly cannabis usage rate in the European Union, with Croatia coming in behind Spain (8.6%), Czechia (6.8%), the Netherlands (6.1%), and France (5.9%).
Additionally, 10.2% of Croatian adults report having consumed cannabis within the last year, according to the report, and 22.9% of adults in Croatia report having consumed cannabis at least once in their lifetime. For contextual purposes, 47.3% of adults in France have consumed cannabis at least once in their lifetime, according to the report.
Various market evaluations and projections have been published for Croatia’s emerging legal cannabis industry. For example, Grand View Research estimates that “the Croatia medical marijuana market generated a revenue of USD 4.4 million in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 23.6 million by 2030,” and that oil and tinctures are the most lucrative product sectors.”
Statista has a larger market value for Croatia’s emerging medical cannabis industry, estimating that “the revenue in the medical cannabis market is forecasted to reach US$39.25m by 2025” and “a market volume of US$46.74m by 2030.”
Separately, analysts at Statista estimate that Croatia’s CBD sector ” is forecasted to reach US$7.39m in 2025.” Market analysts at Grand View Research project that Croatia’s CBD sector “generated a revenue of USD 17.3 million in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 148.7 million by 2030.”
On the industrial hemp front, Croatia’s farmers harvested 1,984 hectares of industrial hemp in 2019 according to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, and an additional 2,055 hectares in 2020. However, between 2021 and 2023, Croatian farmers only harvested a total of 849 hectares of industrial hemp in all three years combined. It appears that industrial hemp harvest data for 2024 have yet to be published.