Australia produced close to 25,000kg of medicinal cannabis in 2022, with overseas shipments arriving in nearly identical quantities, according to official figures released by the Office of Drug Control (ODC).
The newly published data reveals that cannabis imports last year surged to 24,887kg, a 247% increase from 2021, when only 7,173kg was shipped into the country.
Domestic production rose 49% to 24,900kg in 2022, a reflection of the growing number of cultivation facilities operating across Australia.
Export activity told a different story. Australian companies shipped 1,510kg of cannabis to overseas markets, just 6% more than in 2021, underscoring both the market need and the regulatory obligation for locally grown product to serve Australian patients before being sent abroad.
Drug enforcement authorities also released figures on cannabis stockpiles held by Australian companies. Holdings stood at 17,700kg in 2021 — exceeding that year's domestic production of 16,700kg — before dropping to 15,400kg in 2022.
The ODC explained that stock "at hand" covered cannabis from a company's own cultivation and production, product acquired from other domestic sources or through importation, and cannabis "retained for manufacturing activities".
The figures were published alongside the launch of a cannabis data webpage by the ODC, forming part of the department's broader commitment to greater industry transparency.
ODC assistant secretary Avi Rebera told the United in Compassion Symposium in August that transparency was "something a lot of you have been asking about".
The only prior import and export data had been obtained by Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia in October 2022, and that related to permitted quantities rather than actual figures.
Canada was the dominant source of imports, with volumes climbing 266% to 21,201kg in 2022 — accounting for 85% of the 24,887kg total.
Portugal recorded substantial growth, with imports rising 1,346% to 839kg, while shipments from Germany increased from 9kg to 858kg.
Imports from Denmark climbed from 195kg to 868kg, a jump of 345%.
Supply from non-European markets was more mixed. Imports from Colombia fell 70% to 51kg, and those from Israel declined 66% to 141kg.
South Africa bucked that trend with a 900% surge, from 60kg in 2021 to 600kg in 2022. Cannabis arriving from New Zealand grew 182% to 144kg.
On the export side, Germany received 62% of Australia's outbound cannabis in 2022 — 935kg of the 1,510kg total.
That figure was nonetheless down more than 27% from 2021, when Germany took 1,290kg, or 90% of the 1,426kg exported that year.
New Zealand and the UK were the only other destinations for Australian cannabis exports in 2022, receiving 167kg (up from 5kg in 2021) and 407kg (up from 131kg) respectively, according to the ODC data.
In publishing the figures, the ODC defined cannabis as the "flowering or fruiting tops (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops) from which the resin has not been extracted".
Domestic production figures refer to cannabis "separated from the plants from which they are obtained".
