Canada and the United States belong near the top of any serious discussion about countries with high cannabis use. New Zealand also reports substantial use, while Australia, Uruguay, Spain, France, and Czechia feature prominently in national and regional research. However, naming a definitive world champion is harder than popular rankings suggest. Countries survey different age groups, collect data in different years, and do not always distinguish smoking from eating, vaping, or otherwise consuming cannabis.
The most useful comparison usually measures past-year prevalence: the percentage of a defined population that used cannabis at least once during the previous twelve months. That tells us how widespread use is, rather than how many joints people smoke or how much THC they consume. The national surveys discussed below provide dated snapshots, mostly from 2023 and 2024, rather than a synchronized global league table. Together, they offer a more credible picture than reputation, tourism, or cannabis sales alone.
What Does “Smoke the Most Weed” Actually Mean?
A country can lead in the percentage of residents using cannabis without having the largest number of consumers. Imagine a country with five million adults and a 20% annual use rate: it would have about one million users. Another with fifty million adults and a 10% rate would have five million. The first has higher prevalence; the second has a larger consumer population. Neither figure tells us which country consumes the most cannabis by weight or has the greatest number of daily smokers.
Age limits create another complication. A survey covering people aged 12 and older cannot be treated as identical to one covering ages 15–64 or adults aged 18 and older. Older populations, sampling methods, and willingness to disclose use can change the results. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report 2026 identifies North America, Australia and New Zealand, and West and Central Africa as regions with particularly high past-year prevalence. Its regional findings are valuable context, but they do not justify ranking every country with equal confidence.
Cannabis Use Index — Top 20 Countries Compared
This index brings together 20 countries with documented cannabis use, ordered by the reported percentages below. It is a comparison of selected survey findings, not a verified global top 20 or a ranking of smoking volume. Survey years and age ranges differ, some entries are historical, and these are not necessarily each country’s newest estimates. Percentages generally refer to use at least once in the previous twelve months; Jamaica’s reporting requires the separate qualification below.
| Index | Country | Reported use | Survey year | Age group | Plain-text source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | 26.0% | 2024 | 16+ | Canadian Cannabis Survey 2024; non-medical use |
| 2 | United States | 22.3% | 2024 | 12+ | National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2024 |
| 3 | Jamaica | 17.1%* | 2023 | 12–65 | National Drug Prevalence Study; INCB Annual Report 2025 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 15.6% | 2023/24 | 15+ | New Zealand Health Survey |
| 5 | Spain | 12.6% | 2024 | 15–64 | EDADES 2024 |
| 6 | Uruguay | 12.3% | 2023/24 | 15–65 | Eighth National Drug Use Survey; urban coverage |
| 7 | Australia | 11.5% | 2022/23 | 14+ | National Drug Strategy Household Survey |
| 8 | Czechia | 11.1% | 2020 | 15–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 9 | France | 10.8% | 2023 | 18–64 | EROPP 2023; metropolitan France |
| 10 | Nigeria | 10.8% | 2017 | 15–64 | UNODC and Nigerian national drug-use survey |
| 11 | Croatia | 10.2% | 2019 | 15–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 12 | Italy | 10.2% | 2017 | 18–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 13 | Chile | 10.1% | 2024 | 12–64 | SENDA national general-population study |
| 14 | Germany | 8.8% | 2021 | 18–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 15 | Finland | 8.2% | 2018 | 15–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 16 | Ireland | 7.1% | 2019 | 15–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 17 | Netherlands | 7.1% | 2025 | 18+ | Trimbos Institute, national drug-use figures |
| 18 | Estonia | 6.6% | 2018 | 16–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 19 | Austria | 6.3% | 2020 | 15–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
| 20 | Denmark | 6.3% | 2021 | 16–64 | European Drug Report 2023 source data |
The index numbers indicate display order only; equal percentages are ties. Uruguay’s survey covered communities with at least 10,000 residents, and Australia’s measure excludes exclusively prescribed medical use. *For Jamaica, the INCB Annual Report 2025 describes 17.1% as annual prevalence, while the Jamaican health ministry’s summary calls it “current use” without defining that recall period. It should therefore be treated as provisional for annual comparisons. None of these figures measures daily smoking, and the absence of a country does not establish that its consumption is lower.
Canada Has One of the Clearest High-Use Profiles
Health Canada’s Canadian Cannabis Survey 2024 found that 26% of people aged 16 and older reported non-medical cannabis use during the previous twelve months. That is roughly one in four people in the surveyed age range. Past-month use was 17%, showing why the time window matters: someone who tried cannabis once during the year belongs in the annual figure but may not be a current consumer. These results establish Canada as a country with widespread reported use, without implying that one quarter of Canadians smoke daily.
Health Canada also explicitly warns that the survey’s collection methodology can produce higher prevalence estimates than other Canadian surveys. That qualification is essential when comparing its 26% figure with another country’s household survey. The questionnaire covers multiple consumption methods, so its headline percentage is not a smoking rate. Canada provides unusually detailed information about cannabis behavior, but the strength of that evidence comes from its definitions and transparency, not from treating its largest published estimate as an automatic world record.
The United States Combines High Prevalence With Population Size
The 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, reported past-year marijuana use among 22.3% of people aged 12 and older. That represented approximately 64.2 million people. The number illustrates why the United States matters so much in global cannabis discussions: a high reported use rate operates alongside a very large population. Its consumer base is far larger than that of smaller countries even when those countries publish a higher percentage.
Age differences within the United States are substantial. In the same survey, 35% of adults aged 18–25 reported past-year marijuana use, compared with 10.4% of adolescents aged 12–17. Quoting the young-adult percentage as though it represented the entire country would greatly exaggerate national prevalence. The survey also measures marijuana use across product types and methods. It supports describing the United States as a major cannabis-consuming country, but not converting its annual user count into an estimate of daily smokers or joints consumed.
New Zealand and Australia Deserve Their Place in the Discussion
New Zealand’s 2023/24 Health Survey recorded past-year cannabis use among 15.6% of adults aged 15 and older, as summarized in the New Zealand Drug Foundation’s Drug Use in Aotearoa 2023/24 report. That is approximately one in six adults. It is a substantial prevalence estimate for a country whose relatively small population can make it less visible in discussions dominated by market size. New Zealand demonstrates why counting consumers and measuring the share of residents who consume cannabis answer different questions.
Australia’s National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022–2023 found that 11.5% of people aged 14 and older had used cannabis during the previous year, equivalent to around 2.5 million people. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also reported that 18% of past-year consumers used it daily. That second percentage describes users, not the whole population. The survey excludes people whose only cannabis use was doctor-prescribed and exclusively medical, another reason its result cannot be compared mechanically with surveys using broader definitions.
Uruguay Shows Why Legalization Is Not a Global Ranking
Uruguay’s eighth National Survey on Drug Use in the General Population reported past-year cannabis use of 12.3% in its 2024 results. The study covered people aged 15–65 living in communities with at least 10,000 residents, with fieldwork running from September 2023 to May 2024. That geographical restriction matters: it is a defined population survey, not an unrestricted measurement of every resident. Uruguay clearly has substantial cannabis use, but this estimate does not place it above Canada or the United States on their respective survey measures.
The Uruguayan Drugs Observatory reported that growth in cannabis experimentation had slowed after 2018. Its findings also showed substantial differences between Montevideo and the rest of the surveyed population. Those details are more informative than assuming that a country associated with cannabis reform must have the highest consumption. A national average can conceal local patterns, while changes in legal access, disclosure, and actual behavior may overlap. Establishing what a policy caused requires more than comparing two countries’ headline percentages.
Spain, France, and Czechia Are Important European Examples
Spain’s EDADES 2024 survey reported past-year cannabis use of 12.6% among people aged 15–64. France’s EROPP 2023 findings, published by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in 2024, put annual use at 10.8% among adults aged 18–64 in metropolitan France. The French researchers described that annual rate as broadly stable over approximately a decade, even while lifetime experimentation continued rising. More people having tried cannabis at some point does not necessarily mean a larger share is using it each year.
Czechia also warrants attention. Its National Monitoring Centre’s Report on Illicit Drugs in the Czech Republic 2024 described cannabis as the most commonly used illegal drug and estimated that nearly one million people had used it in the previous year. These findings make Spain, France, and Czechia relevant to any discussion of substantial European cannabis consumption. However, their different age ranges, survey designs, and population sizes prevent a straightforward numbered order. The European Union Drugs Agency’s reports preserve those methodological notes precisely because country comparisons require them.
Why the Netherlands Is Not Automatically Number One
Amsterdam’s visibility can distort perceptions of the Netherlands as a whole. The Trimbos Institute reported that 6.9% of Dutch adults used cannabis during the previous year in its 2024 figures. Its subsequently published 2025 figure was 7.1%. Those estimates do not suggest that the country’s international cannabis reputation translates into the world’s highest adult prevalence. A destination associated with cannabis is not necessarily a country where the largest proportion of residents consumes it.
Tourism makes the distinction especially important. Visitors purchasing cannabis contribute to commercial activity without necessarily appearing in surveys of the resident population. Likewise, an image formed around a particular city cannot stand in for nationwide behavior. The Netherlands belongs in the story because it challenges a common assumption: visible availability and cultural familiarity are imperfect measures of use. To compare it fairly with Canada, Spain, or New Zealand, researchers would need to align age groups, survey years, and definitions before interpreting numerical differences.
Africa and Other Regions Expose the Gaps in World Rankings
UNODC’s World Drug Report 2026 describes cannabis use in Africa as higher than the global average on the basis of limited available data, with substantial differences between men and women. It also places West and Central Africa among the regions with high annual prevalence. Those findings mean a comparison focused only on North America, Europe, and Oceania would be incomplete. At the same time, limited and uneven national evidence makes it difficult to confidently place individual African countries above or below countries with frequent, detailed household surveys.
This is where many internet rankings become unreliable. A percentage may originate in an old survey, cover only a particular age group, or rely on an estimate rather than recent fieldwork. Repeating it beside newer national figures creates an appearance of precision without a common measurement basis. Countries with limited data should not be assumed to have low use, but missing evidence cannot establish a first-place finish either. A credible comparison identifies uncertainty instead of filling the gaps with stereotypes or recycled statistics.
Which Countries Can We Reasonably Say Use the Most Cannabis?
Canada and the United States stand out for high reported annual prevalence, with the United States also having an exceptionally large surveyed consumer population. New Zealand reports substantial adult use, while Australia, Uruguay, Spain, France, and Czechia provide further well-documented examples. The Netherlands remains culturally prominent without topping the national percentages discussed here. These are evidence-based examples of substantial consumption, not an exhaustive ranking of every country or a claim that omitted countries necessarily use less.
The answer ultimately depends on the question. For the share of residents who use cannabis, compare annual prevalence within matching age groups. For market size, examine user counts and consumption quantities. For smoking specifically, use surveys that distinguish inhalation from other methods. National surveys can tell us a great deal about where cannabis use is common, but they cannot support a universal leaderboard of who smokes the most weed. The most defensible answer keeps the countries, the dates, and the definitions together.
