Forestry Statistics and Forestry Facts & Figures

Forestry Statistics is currently being reviewed to ensure that it continues to be of value to users.  As part of this review, we have implemented some minor changes for the 2019 edition (released on 26 September 2019).  These include renaming of some chapters and reducing content for topics where no update is available.  We also launched an online user survey alongside Forestry Statistics 2019 to consult on more substantial changes to content and on preferred formats for future editions. 

The latest National Statistics on forestry produced by the Forestry Commission were released on 26 September 2019 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Detailed statistics are published in the web publication Forestry Statistics 2019, with an extract in Forestry Facts & Figures 2019. They include UK statistics on woodland area, planting, timber, trade, climate change, environment, recreation, employment and finance & prices as well as some statistics on international forestry. Where possible, figures are also provided for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The key points from the latest releases are:

• The woodland area in the United Kingdom in 2019 is 3.19 million hectares; 1.40 million hectares (44%) are independently certified as sustainably managed.
• Thirteen thousand hectares of new woodland were created in the UK in 2018-19.
• 11.6 million green tonnes of UK roundwood (softwood and hardwood) were delivered to primary wood processors and others in 2018, representing a 3% increase from the previous year.
• Wood products imported into the UK in 2018 were valued at £8.3 billion and included 7.2 million cubic metres of sawnwood, 3.9 million cubic metres of wood-based panels, 8.0 million tonnes of wood pellets and 5.5 million tonnes of paper.
• The Annual Business Survey reported average employment in 2017 of 16 thousand in forestry and 27 thousand in primary wood processing.
• Gross Value added (GVA) in primary wood processing (sawmilling, panels and pulp & paper) was £1.48 billion in the UK in 2017. GVA in forestry was £0.70 billion.
• The UK was the second largest net importer (imports less exports) of forest products in 2017, behind China. 

Coverage: United Kingdom

Geographical breakdown: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Publications:

Forestry Statistics 2019

PDFs of individual chapters can also be dowloaded below:

• Chapter 1 - Woodland area and planting
• Chapter 2 - Timber
• Chapter 3 - Trade
• Chapter 4 - Carbon
• Chapter 5 - Environment
• Chapter 6 - Social
• Chapter 7 - Employment & Businesses
• Chapter 8 - Finance & Prices
• Chapter 9 - International Forestry
• Background information (Introduction, Glossary and Sources)

Forestry Facts & Figures 2019: Available in EXCEL format and as a PDF fold-up for A3 printing only. Alternatively, a leaflet can be ordered for free from Forest Research Publications.

Data: All tables are available to download from the Forestry Statistics publication. In addition, longer time series data for some topics are available from the data downloads page on our website.

Statistician: Sheila Ward 

Contact: Robert Stagg

tel: 0300 067 5238

e-mail: statistics@forestresearch.gov.uk

Next update: 24 September 2020

Pre-release access: Information on pre-release access to this publication can be found in the pre-release access pages.