For years, flower defined the legal cannabis market. It was the core product and a cultural symbol, and the category every other format was measured against. Edibles, vapes, concentrates and beverages all fought for attention around flower’s dominance. But in 2025, that changed in a major way.
According to the 2026 State of the Pre-Roll Market Report, pre-rolls overtook flower in unit sales for the first time in history, officially becoming the top-selling cannabis product on the market by volume. The category generated nearly $3.6 billion in sales in 2025, up 9.8% year-over-year, while unit sales climbed 18.6% to 383.2 million units. No other major cannabis category posted stronger combined revenue and unit growth.
That shift marks more than a milestone for a single product type. It signals a broader change in how consumers are shopping for cannabis. Pre-rolls, once treated as a convenience item or a lower-tier use for trim and shake, have evolved into a sophisticated, fast-growing category driven by product innovation, premiumization and changing consumer expectations.
How Pre-Rolls Took the Lead
The report suggests that consumers increasingly want products that are simple, portable and ready to use, and pre-rolls fit that demand perfectly. They eliminate the need for grinders, papers and rolling skills. For new cannabis consumers, they offer a low-friction entry point, and for experienced users, they deliver consistency and convenience.
That accessibility has helped fuel five straight years of category growth. Revenue has more than doubled since 2021, rising from $1.68 billion to nearly $3.6 billion in 2025. Market share also climbed to 15.9%, representing a 29.5% increase over five years and 7.6% year-over-year growth. Even in a broader cannabis market that slowed to just 1.5% growth in 2025, pre-rolls continued to outperform the field.
The category’s rise also reflects its increasing sophistication and premiumization. Today’s pre-roll market is not built solely on the classic single joint, it includes infused pre-rolls, mini formats, premium tips, custom branding and an increasingly dominant multi-pack segment. In fact, 48.5% of pre-roll SKUs in 2025 were multi-packs, and 90 of the top 100 products in the category came in multi-pack form.
The popular 2.5-gram 5-pack alone generated $612 million in revenue.
Infused pre-rolls are another major driver of the category’s growth. In 2025, infused products accounted for $1.68 billion in revenue, or about 47% of all pre-roll sales dollars. Unit growth in that segment reached 27.8%, showing consumers are not just buying more pre-rolls, but increasingly trading up to premium formats.
State-by-state data shows the category’s appeal is widespread. California remained the top market by revenue at $703.5 million, while Michigan followed closely with $599 million and led the nation in volume at 133.2 million units sold. New York posted the fastest growth, with revenue up 96% and units sold up 120.4% year-over-year, underscoring how strong the category remains in both mature and emerging markets.
Consumer demographics help explain some of this momentum. Millennials account for 43.9% of all pre-roll revenue and 43.1% of all units sold, making them the category’s dominant buyer group. But pre-rolls also saw growth across every demographic in 2025, suggesting broad mainstream appeal.
Big Opportunity, Big Competition
For producers and retailers, the category’s success is both an opportunity and a warning: while demand is strong, competition is intense. The number of brands offering pre-rolls held fairly steady in 2025, but the report found major churn beneath the surface, with 589 previously active brands falling out and 661 new ones entering. Price compression remains a growing issue as well, with the average pre-roll price dropping to $9.31, down 6.6% from 2024 and nearly 20% from its 2022 peak.
Still, pre-rolls remain one of the strongest categories in cannabis because they sit at the intersection of value, convenience and innovation. Consumers can try a product without committing to a larger flower purchase, they can buy a premium infused pack for a special occasion or a low-cost single for everyday use. The format is flexible enough to serve multiple consumer needs at once.
Looking ahead, the report projects pre-roll sales will reach between $3.8 billion and $4 billion in 2026, with longer-term growth pushing the category above $5 billion by 2030.
Flower may still be the most iconic product in cannabis, but the market is making something else clear. In the legal era, convenience, portability and product innovation are increasingly winning the shelf, and right now, no product represents that shift better than pre-rolls.