Provisional Woodland Statistics

Forest Research have today (Thursday 26 June) released provisional statistics for the year to March 2025 on UK woodland area; certified woodland area, areas of new planting and publicly funded restocking, and projects registered under the Woodland Carbon Code. 

Key findings include: 

• The area of woodland in the UK at 31 March 2025 is estimated to be 3.29 million hectares. This represents 14 per cent of the total land area in the UK, 19  per cent in Scotland, 15  per cent in Wales, 10 per cent in England, and 9  per cent in Northern Ireland. 

• Of the total UK woodland area, 859 thousand hectares is owned or managed by Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, Natural Resources Wales or the Forest Service (in Northern Ireland). 

• The total certified woodland area in the UK at 31 March 2025 is 1.44 million hectares, including all Forestry England/Forestry and Land Scotland/Welsh Government Woodland Estate/Forest Service woodland. Overall, 44 per cent of the UK woodland area is certified. 

• Around 16 thousand hectares of newly created woodland were reported in the UK in 2024/25. 

• Around 16 thousand hectares of publicly funded woodland restocking were reported in the UK in 2024/25. 

• Woodland Carbon Code projects in the UK that were validated (including those that were also verified) at 31 March 2025 were predicted to sequester a total of 13.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime of up to 100 years. This represents 10.8 million tonnes in Scotland, 1.6 million tonnes in England, 548 thousand tonnes in Wales and 70 thousand tonnes in Northern Ireland. 

To read the full publication which includes a breakdown of the key findings please, visit the Statistics section of our website.

These provisional statistics will be superseded on 25 September 2025 with the publication of final and more detailed results in Forestry Statistics 2025. 

The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as Accredited Official Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. For more information visit: Accredited official statistics – Office for Statistics Regulation