Italy tops the EU ranking when it comes to cannabis consumption among young people, with more than one in five (21.5%) consuming it in the past year.
It’s followed by Croatia, with 20.3%, and Spain with 19.4%, according to the latest European Drug Report by the European Union Drugs Agency.
The smallest shares of young people consuming the drug were found in Portugal at 4.9%, Greece at 4.5%, and Hungary at 3.4%.
Young men are typically twice as likely to report consuming cannabis as women.
Cannabis remains by far the most commonly consumed illicit drug in Europe. The cannabis market has an estimated value of € 12.1 billion.
Despite the emergence of new cannabis products, herbal cannabis and cannabis resin remain the most commonly consumed forms.
Some 8.4% of European adults — aged between 15 and 64 — have used cannabis in the past year, with around 1.5% of them consuming it daily or almost daily.
The report also shows that 15- to 16-year-old school students in the EU perceived cannabis to be the easiest illicit substance to buy, with 30% of them saying it is easily obtainable.
On average, 13% of students had consumed cannabis at least once in their lifetime, with 2.6% reporting having used cannabis for the first time at age 13 or younger.
However, trends in cannabis use among students indicate an overall decrease between 2003 and 2024.