Driven by innovation and convenience, pre-roll sales in 2025 not only had the strongest growth of any major category, topping $3.6 billion in sales and moving 383 million units, but supplanted flower as the most units sold for the first time in the industry’s history, according to a new report from Custom Cones USA.

It’s the fifth consecutive year that pre-rolls have outperformed the industry as a whole, growing revenues 9.8% year-over-year, well ahead of the 1.5% growth rate of the entire sector. On top of that, unit sales grew 18.6%, helping lead the category to a 15.9% market share.

In total, pre-rolls have seen by far the largest growth of any category over the past five years, driving growth for the entire industry, despite having the lowest average price point of any major category at just $9.18.

“Pre-rolls are no longer an afterthought,” said Harrison Bard, CEO of Custom Cones USA. “What started as a trim byproduct, pre-rolls have matured into a highly competitive, innovation-driven category where brands are winning through quality, scale, and smart branding.”

Drawing on point-of-sale data from 15 states collected by cannabis analytics firm Headset, as well as a survey of pre-roll manufacturers from around the country, the State of the Pre-Roll Market 2026 report shines a spotlight on this growing and important category, revealing what pre-rolls are selling, how they are being sold, and who is buying them.

Infused Pre-Rolls Dominate

Looking deeper at the numbers, the State of the Pre-Roll Market Report reveals that infused pre-rolls, which combine a concentrate with flower to boost potency and flavor, are driving the category’s growth.

In 2025, infused pre-rolls accounted for $1.68 billion in sales, or 47% of all pre-roll revenues, up from $1.44 billion the year before, the largest growth of a segment in the category.

However, looking at unit sales, the Hybrid-Single Strain segment is the most popular, selling 175.6 million units, well ahead of the 144.6 million units of second-place infused, however, the lower average price point brings their revenue total for the year to $1.3 billion.

Together, the Infused and Hybrid segments account for more than 84% of all pre-roll revenues and nearly 84% of all units sold.

Multi-Pack Ascendance

While pre-roll multi-packs have long been a growing section of product offerings, they absolutely dominated the sales charts in 2025.

Multi-packs saw their largest growth year ever, reaching a full 48.5% of pre-roll products sold. But the real impact can be seen on the top-selling product charts, where multi-packs accounted for 90 of the top 100 pre-roll products sold, up from 78 the previous year.

The most popular multi-pack format is the 2.5-gram 5-pack, generating $612 million, or about 17.2% of total pre-roll revenue and nearly 24 million units sold.

Who is Buying?

While they appeal to consumers from all generations, millennials are clearly the core audience, accounting for 43.9% of all pre-roll revenue, about $1.6 billion in sales.

And though males make up nearly 60% of all pre-roll buyers, millennial females sit clearly in the No. 2 spot, just behind their male counterparts but ahead of both Gen X and Gen Z men.

What’s the Future of Pre-Rolls?

Looking ahead, the State of the Pre-Roll Market Report predicts the category to continue to grow at industry-leading rates, with infused pre-rolls once again leading the way.

Using what they call a “conservative” growth estimate, the report predicts that pre-roll revenue will top $4 billion in 2026 and grow to more than $5.2 billion by 2030, though as more markets legalize, those numbers would be expected to grow further.

The report also specifically targets the Tri-State New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area for growth in the next year. New York showed the largest year-over-year category growth of any state in both revenue and unit sales, followed by New Jersey in both categories. Connecticut placed third in unit sales. Additionally, New Jersey is expected to open consumption lounges this year, again juicing pre-roll sales.

“It’s an exciting time to be in pre-rolls,” Bard said. “The category is constantly changing and growing, with innovation constantly pushing the whole sector in new and fun directions. It used to be something companies did with leftover product, but now, any business that is not looking to start or expand their pre-roll lines is leaving money on the table.”

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