Chart: Cannabis industry, MJBizCon continue growth trends

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MJBizCon 2019, a conference hosted annually by Marijuana Business Daily, attracted more than 31,500 cannabis professionals to the Las Vegas Convention Center Dec. 11-13, a 14% increase from 2018 and a record turnout.

The event also offered expanded preconference and other events, bringing the total registered attendees to 33,000.

MJBizCon is often viewed as a bellwether for the broader industry. The year-over-year event growth indicates that while the marijuana industry is seeing some challenges, including turmoil in the California and Canada markets and softening in the investment space, plenty of growth opportunity remains.

MJBizCon 2019 attracted 1,300 exhibitors spanning all sectors of the cannabis industry, from legal, technology, investing and marketing firms to payment processors, extraction machinery manufacturers and cultivation equipment providers.

That’s an increase of 26% from the 2018 event.

Here’s what else you need to know about the conference:

  • Roughly 13% of conference attendees were from outside the United States, highlighting continued expansion for the industry worldwide. Canada had the largest international presence at the show with 2,071 attendees, followed by China (659) and Israel (135).
  • In total, 79 different countries were represented this year. In terms of population, the smallest country represented at the conference was Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an island nation in the Caribbean. As for total distance traveled, attendees from South Africa made the longest journey – trekking more than 10,000 miles to attend the show.
  • MJBizCon 2019 boasted a quarter of a million net square feet of exhibit space, up 43% from the 2018 event. That’s roughly 114 times more space than the inaugural MJBizCon in 2012.

Eli McVey can be reached at elim@mjbizdaily.com

Coverage of MJBizCon 2019 sessions from the MJBizDaily staff is available here and here. You can also find more business takeaways from the conference panels here and here.

A review of winners showcased at the MJBizDaily Awards, which were a highlight of MJBizCon 2019, are available here.