Every figure on this page comes from an 87-month (2019–2026) measured monthly series — Google Trends co-measured against Google Ads volumes, per keyword, per country. Real trajectories, not a tool's index.
The trend — level, trajectory, seasonality
- US: from ~4.4M monthly searches in early 2019 to a 2023 peak near 7.5M — 58M → 79M searches a year — then a plateau around 75M, with a fresh spike in early 2026. The growth era's easy compounding is over; the market now trades share, not tide.
- UK: ~1.0–1.7M monthly, gently rising. No recreational layer to inflate it; demand tracks wellness adoption and the private-medical channel.
A snapshot would have missed all of that — the plateau is the strategic context for every US operator.
What each market asks the plant to do
| Use-case | UK monthly demand | US monthly demand |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep | 54,000 | 1,104,000 |
| Epilepsy / seizures | 143,000 | 401,000 |
| Anxiety & stress | 67,000 | 25,000 |
| Pain & inflammation | 51,000 | 43,000 |
| Chemo-related nausea | — | 128,000 |
| Multiple sclerosis | 24,000 | — |
The UK's profile is medical-led (epilepsy first — the Epidyolex effect — with MS present because of Sativex). The US's is wellness-at-scale (sleep alone out-demands the entire UK category).
The formats
| UK top forms | US top forms | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creams & topicals — 272K | Pet CBD — 192K |
| 2 | Drinks — 89K | Oils — 92K |
| 3 | Oils — 47K | Gummies — 39K |
The UK shelf is wellness retail (topicals for pain, functional drinks). The US trackable forms skew pet and oils — while the recreational flower/vape market largely transacts through dispensary menus, off open search.
The regulatory frame, visible in demand
Demand tagged by frame: UK — medical 49% / wellness 47% / recreational 4%. US — wellness 53% / recreational 26% / medical 21%. The 4%-vs-26% recreational gap is the single number that explains the two markets.