The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), which oversees the state’s medical cannabis program, recently issued an update on patient numbers and sales figures for October. Monthly retail sales established a new all-time high, while wholesale revenues were quite stable compared to the month prior.
According to IDPH data, retail sales of medical cannabis in October totaled $12,596,725, a new record for monthly sales, exceeding the prior historic peak of over $12 million in retail revenue generated in August. October’s retail sales are up by 6.9% month-over-month, compared to the $11,786,290 tallied in September. Of October’s sales total, 48.4% – or $6,095,868 – went to purchase flower, a proportion down slightly from the month prior, when the percentage was 48.5%. Sales revenue from concentrates and edibles has consistently exceeded that from flower in recent months, albeit by modest margins.
The Department has approved 48,240 patient applications since the opening of the state’s registry in September 2014, up by roughly 2,240 patients from a month ago. 55 dispensaries served 27,760 unique patients in October, up by about 1,600 unique patients compared to the previous month.
Each patient purchased, on average, 19.9 grams of flower in October, up marginally from 19.8 grams in September. The average retail price of a gram of flower in Illinois in October was $11.02, up very modestly from $11.01 in September. The per-gram retail price of flower in Illinois rose in each month of the prior two quarters, a trend that continued to open Q4.
On the wholesale side, Illinois cultivation centers recorded $6,762,763 in revenues in October, up very slightly, by 0.2%, from the $6,751,575 in supply side sales documented in September. The month-over-month stability in wholesale revenues from September to October is a departure from recent trends, which have seen such sales figures ping-pong up and down in recent months, sometimes by quite substantial magnitudes.
Illinois’ Spot Index also experienced relative steadiness in October. It opened the month at $2,993 per pound, ascended to a monthly high of $3,054 per pound in the week ending the 19th, then closed October at $3,031 per pound. For the month as a whole, Illinois’ overall volume-weighted price averaged $3,033 per pound, up by 0.2% compared to September’s mean Spot Index of $3,027 per pound.