Cannabis Freedom Index

Datasets Use · not part of the score

Cannabis use at 15 and 16

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) · school surveys from 2003 to 2024

Use among 15- and 16-year-olds is the one cannabis figure built for comparison: the same age group, mostly asked in school surveys such as Europe’s ESPAD, and reported by governments to UNODC.[1] It covers 51 countries, and the median is 8.5% who used cannabis in the past year. The highest shares include Liechtenstein and the United States, at about a quarter; among the lowest are Mexico and Egypt, under 2%.

The price of comparability is coverage. Countries that survey other age bands, Germany, France and Spain among them, are left out, and survey years run from 2003 to 2024.[1] A survey of pupils also misses young people who are not in school. Read it beside how easy students say cannabis is to get and beside the adult figures in cannabis use.

Published by
UNODC — World Drug Report 2026, statistical annex, table 1.4 Prevalence of drug use in the youth population, national data
Data
table 1.4, spreadsheet
File here
unodc-cannabis-use-youth.csv
See also
The interactive map · The files and their checksums
of 220 places covered
51
years in the file
school surveys from 2003 to 2024
the median country
8.5%
places with several years
28

Use at 15 and 16, on the map

The stronger the blue, the more 15- and 16-year-olds used cannabis in the past year. Countries without a survey of this age group are hatched. Select a country for its profile.

Under 3%3–7%7–12%12–18%18% or moreNo survey of 15- and 16-year-olds reported to UNODC

UNODC World Drug Report 2026, table 1.4: past-year use among 15- and 16-year-olds, latest survey reported. Survey years differ between countries.

Highest · Use at 15 and 16

  1. Senegal90.95%2019
  2. Liechtenstein26.2%2015
  3. United States25.3%2015

Lowest · Use at 15 and 16

  1. Mexico1.3%2011
  2. Egypt1.4%2013
  3. Haiti1.7%2005

Country by country

Each place's latest figure, as on its profile. Select a heading to sort.

Further figures
AustriaEurope15.1%in the past year18.26% ever · 6.86% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
BahamasNorth America8.5%in the past year15.6% ever · 2008 · ages 15–162008
BelarusEurope2.4%in the past year5.3% ever · 0.6% in the past month · 2010 · ages 15–162010
BelgiumEurope8.1%in the past year10.7% ever · 2024 · ages 15–162024
Bosnia and HerzegovinaEurope3.3%in the past year4.5% ever · 1.4% in the past month · 2011 · ages 15–16, school survey2011
BrazilSouth America4.7%in the past year2019 · ages 15–16, school survey2019
BulgariaEurope21.4%in the past year26.9% ever · 12.2% in the past month · 2015 · ages 15–16, school survey2015
CanadaNorth America21.57%in the past year26.3% ever · 13.5% in the past month · 2018 · ages 15–16 (Grade 10)2018
ColombiaSouth America8.36%in the past year9.58% ever · 3.01% in the past month · 2005 · ages 15–162005
CroatiaEurope12.8%in the past year14.8% ever · 6.54% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
CyprusEurope7%in the past year7% ever · 5% in the past month · 2011 · ages 15–16, school survey2011
CzechiaEurope23.9%in the past year32% ever · 10.2% in the past month · 2016 · ages 15–16, school survey2016
DenmarkEurope6.3%in the past year2.2% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
EgyptAfrica1.4%in the past year2013 · ages 15–162013
EstoniaEurope17%in the past year21% ever · 7% in the past month · 2019 · ages 15–16, school survey2019
FinlandEurope8.58%in the past year9.94% ever · 3.9% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
GibraltarEurope3.54%in the past year2.36% in the past month · 2019 · ages 15–16, school survey2019
GreeceEurope9.7%in the past year11.5% ever · 6.2% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–16, school survey2024
GrenadaNorth America18.1%in the past year29.1% ever · 10.4% in the past month · 2005 · ages 15–162005
HaitiNorth America1.7%in the past year3% ever · 2005 · ages 15–162005
Hong KongAsia0.36%in the past year1.44% ever · 0.11% in the past month · 2023 · ages 15–162023
HungaryEurope12.5%in the past year14.8% ever · 6.5% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
IrelandEurope10.2%in the past year11.8% ever · 4.9% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
IsraelAsia6%in the past year8.5% ever · 5.5% in the past month · 2014 · ages 15–16, school survey2014
ItalyEurope10.8%in the past year12.3% ever · 7.2% in the past month · 2010 · ages 15–162010
KazakhstanAsia2.7%in the past year4.6% ever · 2007 · ages 15–162007
LatviaEurope11.6%in the past year16% ever · 4.4% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
LiechtensteinEurope26.2%in the past year30.8% ever · 11.6% in the past month · 2015 · ages 15–16, school survey2015
LithuaniaEurope13%in the past year18% ever · 5.5% in the past month · 2019 · ages 15–16, school survey2019
MaltaEurope10.4%in the past year12.6% ever · 5.4% in the past month · 2015 · ages 15–16, school survey2015
MexicoNorth America1.3%in the past year2.4% ever · 2011 · ages 15–162011
MoldovaEurope2.8%in the past year4.8% ever · 1.3% in the past month · 2008 · ages 15–16, school survey2008
MontenegroEurope2.4%in the past year4% ever · 1.6% in the past month · 2008 · ages 15–16, school survey2008
MoroccoAfrica6.2%in the past year9.2% ever · 4.1% in the past month · 2009 · ages 15–162009
NetherlandsEurope7.9%in the past year9.2% ever · 4.6% in the past month · 2014 · ages 15–162014
North MacedoniaEurope3.9%in the past year5% ever · 2.2% in the past month · 2015 · ages 15–16, school survey2015
NorwayEurope5%in the past year7% ever · 2% in the past month · 2015 · ages 15–16, school survey2015
ParaguaySouth America3%in the past year4.2% ever · 1.6% in the past month · 2005 · ages 15–162005
PolandEurope14.5%in the past year16.9% ever · 8% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
PortugalEurope8.6%in the past year8.6% ever · 4.8% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
RomaniaEurope7.3%in the past year8.7% ever · 3.3% in the past month · 2019 · ages 15–16, school survey2019
RussiaEurope9.5%in the past year14.8% ever · 4% in the past month · 2011 · ages 15–162011
Saint Kitts and NevisNorth America18.5%in the past year32.4% ever · 9.74% in the past month · 2006 · ages 15–162006
SenegalAfrica90.95%in the past year2019 · ages 15–162019
SerbiaEurope5%in the past year6.7% ever · 2.6% in the past month · 2011 · ages 15–16, school survey2011
SlovakiaEurope20.4%in the past year26.1% ever · 6.8% in the past month · 2024 · ages 15–162024
SloveniaEurope19%in the past year23% ever · 10% in the past month · 2011 · ages 15–16, school survey2011
SwedenEurope5%in the past year7% ever · 2009 · ages 15–16, school survey2009
TürkiyeAsia3.31%in the past year4.3% ever · 2003 · ages 15–162003
UkraineEurope5.7%in the past year7.1% ever · 2.6% in the past month · 2019 · ages 15–16, school survey2019
United StatesNorth America25.3%in the past year31.1% ever · 14.8% in the past month · 2015 · ages 15–16, school survey2015

What is counted, and how the file was made

The share of 15- and 16-year-olds who used cannabis in the past year, mostly from school surveys such as ESPAD, as each government reports them to UNODC. Only surveys of this age group are used, so that countries can be compared: some large countries, Germany, France and Spain among them, report only other age bands and are left out.

The publisher's spreadsheet was downloaded on 21 October 2026 and is published here unchanged. The CSV is extracted from it by scripts/extract-unodc.py (youth): sheet "Cannabis", rows covering ages 15 to 16 with a past-year figure, the latest survey for each country. Rows about herb or resin only, or about one part of a country, are left out, and UNODC's age group is written out ("(SS) 15 - 16" as "ages 15–16, school survey").

The file belongs to UNODC and keeps its terms; cite the publisher when you use it.

References

  1. UNODC — World Drug Report 2026, statistical annexarchived
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