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A total of 3.7 billion m3underbark of wood was removed from global forests in 2015, of which around one half (50%) was for use as woodfuel and the remainder was industrial roundwood (for use by wood processors) (Table 9.4).

North & Central America and Europe together accounted for around three fifths (59%) of all industrial roundwood removals in 2015. Globally, removals of industrial roundwood increased by 8% between 2010 and 2015, resulting from increases in all regions.

Three quarters of woodfuel removals in 2015 took place in Asia and Africa. Globally, removals of woodfuel increased by 2% between 2010 and 2015.

Table 9.4 Wood removals by region, 1990-2015

Region 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
million m3 underbark
Industrial roundwood            
Europe            
UK 6 7 8 8 8 9
EU-281 317 294 342 371 339 350
Total Europe 517 405 519 569 532 578
Africa 61 67 71 75 71 72
Asia 268 276 269 282 361 400
North and Central America 595 603 632 635 485 516
Oceania 34 41 47 50 57 63
South America 110 135 147 176 198 215
World 1585 1526 1685 1787 1703 1845
Woodfuel            
Europe            
UK 0 0 0 0 1 2
EU-281 68 67 70 76 89 99
Total Europe 138 107 94 107 127 148
Africa 445 513 542 589 631 666
Asia 897 849 808 792 764 729
North and Central America 162 145 129 130 129 136
Oceania 9 11 13 11 11 11
South America 162 173 185 169 162 178
World 1814 1798 1771 1799 1823 1866
Total roundwood            
Europe            
UK 6 8 8 9 10 11
EU-281 385 361 411 448 428 450
Total Europe 655 512 612 676 659 726
Africa 506 580 613 664 702 738
Asia 1166 1125 1076 1074 1125 1129
North and Central America 757 748 761 765 613 652
Oceania 43 51 60 61 68 74
South America 272 308 335 345 359 393
World 3399 3325 3456 3585 3526 3711

Source: FAO.

Notes:

1. Cyprus is included in EU-28 total but is part of FAO’s Asia region.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics

Figure 9.5 Wood removals by region, 2015

fs2017fig9-5.png

Source: FAO.

These figures are outside the scope of National Statistics

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