The history of hemp in France and Europe: key milestones

The first traces of hemp cultivation go back at least 2,500 years, in Central Asia. The plant spread into Europe along trade routes and with migrations. The Greeks and the Romans used its fibres for rope, sails and cloth. Pliny the Elder describes its uses in his Natural History.

In France, hemp growing is attested from the Gallo-Roman period onwards. The plant belongs to a subsistence, utilitarian agriculture: fibre, seed, oil.

From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, hemp became a strategic raw material. The navy of the day depended on hemp fibre for sails and rigging. Several French regions — Anjou, Burgundy, Champagne, Brittany — specialised in growing and weaving it.

Charles V's edict in the 14th century, then successive royal ordinances, encouraged cultivation in order to secure supplies for the royal navy. Hemp became an economic marker of the farming basins.

France was among the leading hemp-producing powers in Europe in the 18th century. Several hundred thousand hectares were under cultivation on French soil. French hemp cloth was widely exported.

The decline began at the end of the 19th century with two major shifts:

• The arrival of cheaper tropical plant fibres (jute, sisal).
• The move from sail to steam, which cut the need for rope and canvas.

Competition from industrial cotton and the development of synthetic fibres in the 20th century completed the eclipse.

The 20th century was marked by the sidelining of hemp growing in the Western world, made worse by the prohibition policies aimed at psychoactive cannabis in the United States and in Europe (the conflation of industrial hemp with recreational cannabis was not always clearly resolved).

In France, cultivation survived on a small scale, carried mainly by the Fédération nationale des producteurs de chanvre (FNPC), created in 1932, and by the Interval cooperative in Champagne. Paper making (cigarette paper, Bible paper) remained a historic outlet.

From the 1960s-1970s onwards, France retained a global lead in the varietal selection of low-THC industrial hemp. The Futura, Fedora, USO 31 and Finola varieties were developed within that sector.

Several contemporary outlets have revived interest in hemp:

• Bio-based insulation for construction (hemp concrete, panels).
• Textiles and composite materials.
• Bio-based plastics.
• Human food: hemp seeds, hemp oil.
• Cosmetics: oils and balms.
• CBD wellness: a segment growing strongly since 2018.

The Ministry of Agriculture supports the sector as part of its agro-ecological transition policies. The crop is documented as requiring few inputs and as being favourable to crop rotation.

The period 2018-2022 marks a turning point. Several factors converged:

• The 2018 US Farm Bill secured CBD in the United States.
• The CJEU's Kanavape judgment (19 November 2020) (C-663/18) barred Member States from blocking CBD lawfully produced in another Member State.
• The Conseil d'État's judgment of 29 December 2022 (no. 444887) annulled the French ban on selling raw flowers and leaves.

The sector went from around 30 CBD holdings in 2019 to more than 1,200, according to estimates from the UPCBD. The French market was worth between 850 million and 1.2 billion euros in 2024-2025, with around 2,000 physical shops.

Several recent milestones structure the period:

• June 2023: HHC and its derivatives HHC-O and HHC-P classified as narcotics by the ANSM.
• 3 June 2024: several other cannabinoids (H4CBD, THCP, HHCO, etc.) classified as narcotics.
• 14 January 2025: a series of Cour de cassation judgments consolidating the case law that followed the Conseil d'État.
• 15 May 2026: strict application by the DGAL of the Novel Food regulation, with unauthorised CBD food products withdrawn.
• 21 January 2026: article 23 of the 2026 finance bill withdrawn, so no new excise duty on CBD.

France is today the second largest European CBD market behind Germany, and one of the three biggest agricultural producers of industrial hemp in Europe alongside Romania and Poland. Its integrated sector (seed, farming, processing, distribution) is an industrial asset.

• Hemp grown in Europe for at least 2,500 years
• France a world leader in hemp in the 17th-19th centuries
• Sidelined in the 20th century, rediscovered since the 2000s
• The 2020 Kanavape judgment and the 2022 Conseil d'État judgment structure the CBD market
• French sector = 1,200 holdings, 2,000 shops, market ≈ €850m-€1.2bn
• Synthetic cannabinoids HHC, H4CBD, THCP, HHCO banned since 2023-2024

Do hemp and cannabis refer to the same plant?

Botanically, yes (Cannabis sativa L.). Legally and culturally, no. In French, « chanvre » refers to the low-THC industrial varieties, which are legal. « Cannabis » in common usage refers to the high-THC varieties, which are banned in France for recreational purposes.

Why was hemp sidelined?

Several causes: competition from tropical and synthetic fibres, the end of the age of sail, and the worldwide prohibition policies of the 20th century, which confused industrial hemp with psychoactive cannabis.

Is France a big producer worldwide?

Yes, France is among the three main European producers of industrial hemp and is the second largest European market for CBD wellness products.

When did CBD become legal in France?

The Conseil d'État's judgment of 29 December 2022 annulled the ban on marketing hemp flowers and leaves at ≤ 0.30 % THC in the finished product, and that is the structuring reference point.

Is industrial hemp good for soils?

The crop is documented as requiring few inputs, capable of structuring soils, smothering weeds and improving rotations. It is one of the arguments the sector makes to the Ministry of Agriculture.

CBD is not a medicine. In the event of an illness or a persistent symptom, consult a healthcare professional.

To explore our wellness selection, [see our catalogue](/categorie-produit).

• Conseil d'État, 29 Dec. 2022, no. 444887 (flowers/leaves) — primary
• Xerfi — The CBD market in France (DIS104, updated 2024-2025) — secondary (paid report, figures relayed by the press)
• Xerfi via Revue des Tabacs — « +50 % in 2023 » — secondary