Annual Illinois cannabis sales tumbled almost 20% year over year, but “the best prices yet” for purchasers means retailers remain busier than even at the sales counter, state officials said.
Illinois cannabis retailers reported $1.52 billion in total adult-use and medical cannabis sales in the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the state’s Annual Cannabis Report released last week.
That’s just before retailers enjoyed a record month for units sold for a nearly 10% year-to-year increase.
Illinois tallies sales based on the July 1 – June 30 fiscal year rather than the calendar year.
Are Illinois cannabis sales increasing?
That’s a significant drop from the $1.96 billion recorded in the prior fiscal year, according to the state Department of Finance and Professional Regulation.
However, continuing a trend seen in states with mature markets and declining prices, sales remain stronger than ever.
More than five million distinct items were sold in July 2026, “the highest monthly total to date,” IDFPR Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. told WTAX-FM.
Another 4.9 million items were reported sold in August, a 9% increase from the August 2025 tally, Treto added.
. “As our regulatory structure and industry both mature, we saw record number of sales last year, with the best prices yet for Illinois consumers,” state Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer Erin Johnson said in a statement.
The most popular item in Illinois remains cannabis flower, at nearly $800 million in reported sales alone, according to the annual report. At just under $500 million, concentrates are the second-most popular category, according to the report.
Is cannabis seed-to-sale tracking data accurate?
Regulators attribute at least some of the drop in overall sales to a bureaucratic snafu.
Illinois began using Florida-based software provider Metrc as its seed-to-sale tracking provider in the 2026 fiscal year.
Prior sales computations were based on pre-discount pricing, whereas the most recent $1.52 billion tally “reflects the final purchase price,” according to the annual report.
Illinois also collected $456.4 million in total cannabis taxes, a tally that reflects the state’s excise tax imposed on purchasers as well as sales taxes, which include a sliding scale based on THC percentage.
Have any cannabis products been recalled in Illinois?
In addition to increasing sales volume despite declining overall revenue, Illinois cannabis boasts another notable distinction: a squeaky clean record with regard to product safety.
Notably, Illinois has yet to record a product recall over the past three years.
“To date, no mandatory recalls of cannabis or cannabis products have been issued in Illinois,” IDFPR said in its report.
And consistent with a national trend that’s seen an uptick in cannabis M&A since President Donald Trump’s Dec. 2025 executive order directing cannabis be reclassified under federal law, more cannabis businesses are exchanging hands in Illinois.
The state recorded 50 license transfers in the most recent fiscal year, up from 36 the year before and 21 in the 2024 fiscal year, according to the annual report.
