Data extracted in December 2024
Planned article update 18 December 2026
Highlights
Gross value added represents 43% of total forestry output in the EU in 2023, highlighting the sector’s significant contribution to economic value creation.
82% of total imports of fuelwood and industrial roundwood took place within the EU in 2023, indicating a strong supply security.
Forest area in the EU, 2023 (share of forest in total area, %)
Context This article presents statistics on forestry and logging in the European Union (EU) and it is mostly based on Eurostat's annual data collections European Forest Accounts and the Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire. Indicators present data on forest resources as well as economic and employment data. In addition to the traditional production of wood and other forest-based products, forests are increasingly valued for their environmental role and as a public amenity. A wide range of EU policies and initiatives are linked to forests and the ecosystem services they provide, including biodiversity and climate change mitigation. This is recognized in the EU Forest Strategy for 2030, the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the EU Nature Restoration Law and in the Renewable Energy Directive. The forest also plays an important role in the EU Bioeconomy Strategy by supporting employment in rural areas.
Forest areas and timber volume remain stable in the EU
In 2023, the EU forest area remains stable with only 0.1% increase compared to 2022. During 2023, many European countries show relatively small net changes in total forest area. These increases may result from afforestation of agricultural or abandoned land, natural expansion of forests, or reclassification of land into forest use. Decreases in forest area can be linked to conversion to other land uses, infrastructure development or changes in land-use classification. Changes in timber production are somewhat larger. The standing timber volume in the EU increased by 0.34%, compared to 2022. The data source for this article, namely the European forest accounts, distinguishes between forests available for wood supply (cultivated forests) and forests not available for wood supply (protected areas, conservation forests). However, the following graph considers forests as a whole.
_v2.png)
Source: Eurostat (for_area_efa) and (for_area_efa)
Timber volume represents the standing stock of wood in forests, i.e. mostly living trees that grow every year. It changes as a result of natural tree growth, tree removals through harvesting, and damage caused by disturbances such as droughts, pests, or extreme weather events. Therefore, changes in forest area and timber volume are not necessarily directly aligned, as timber volume may increase due to natural increment even when the forest area remains stable.
Most of the timber growth occurred in managed forests. Among EU countries, the largest increase was observed in Ireland (+1.2%), followed by Estonia (+0.3%) and Lithuania (+0.3%). Conversely, forest area declined slightly in Slovenia and Sweden (-0.1%). Changes close to zero are not displayed in the chart.
The largest increases in standing timber volume were observed in Ireland (+3.6%) and Denmark (+3.2%), followed by Cyprus (+1.6%). Although Portugal recorded a very high net increment in timber volume (+11.1%), this was largely offset by substantial removals and natural losses. In a few countries, such as Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Czechia, Lithuania and Italy, the forest area increased in 2023 while timber volume declined. The reason for this in Latvia is that although forest area expanded through afforestation, removals and losses exceeded the annual increment of timber volume.
Steady increase of roundwood production in 2023
Besides forest area and standing timber stock as two key variables, a third key factor describing the state of the forestry sector and forest management is removals, which reflect the intensity of harvesting. Roundwood production in the EU has been steadily increasing since 2010 except for a brief halt in 2020, reaching a volume of 460 million m3 in 2023. Non-coniferous roundwood removals were more stable showing only a very slight increase for the past decade, while coniferous roundwood production rose more clearly.
The most important roundwood producers in 2023 were Germany (72.61 million m3), Sweden (71.8 million m3), Finland (63.51 million m3), France (47.80 million m3) and Poland (42.79 million m3). These 5 countries together produced more than 64% of the EU’s total roundwood. Roundwood removals are broken down into 4 main categories: fuelwood and three different types of industrial roundwood.
The two most important wood products in Europe are fuelwood and sawlogs. Most countries show a relatively even distribution among these categories. Romania, Germany and Croatia focus more on fuelwood and sawlogs. Pulpwood production is important in Spain, Portugal and Slovakia.
EU forestry gross value added accounts for 43% of the output
The ratio of gross value added to total output measures the share of output that represents newly created economic value by the forestry sector. Gross value added indicates how much value remains from the output after deducting intermediate consumption and reflects the sector’s economic efficiency and structural characteristics. At EU level, the ratio of gross value added to total output is of 43% in 2023. Across EU, forestry shows substantial variation in value added per output, ranging from the lowest value in Belgium (12.3%) to the highest in Italy (80.1%). These differences reflect variations in forest structure, harvesting practices, and connection with wood-based industries.
Countries showing a ratio higher than 50% are Italy, Croatia, Greece, Finland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. The ratio is higher if the output has higher value (due to factors like forest type, management practices, production is more extensive or resource-based, prices are favourable, etc.) or if the industry relies less on intermediate inputs. A lower ratio indicates a lower value of output and/or more input-intensive production process.
82% of EU roundwood import with EU origin
Trade patterns in forestry products provide important insights into the EU’s level of market integration and external dependency. A high share of intra-EU trade highlights supply security and reduces reliance on imports from non-EU countries, which is particularly relevant for strategically important raw materials such as roundwood. In the following section, roundwood trade figures are presented in volume of wood. In addition, data on wood chips and particles are also included, as these products constitute key inputs for wood-based industries, e.g. in the manufacture of pulp and paper or wood-based panels. Trade figures for 2023 are shown for both total trade and extra-EU trade. The figures indicate that most of the trade is internal, suggesting that the EU is largely self-sufficient in these wood products. In particular, 82% of total imports of fuelwood and industrial roundwood took place within the EU in 2023, while only 18% originated from non-EU countries, indicating a limited dependence on external suppliers.
_v2.png)
_v2.png)
Export patterns are broadly similar across the three main forestry product groups; however, the degree of internal trade differs by product. In the case of roundwood exports in 2023, only 59% are traded within the EU and the rest is exported to non-EU countries. Extra-EU exports have increased since 2022. This indicates that, although the EU forestry market is strongly integrated internally, roundwood plays an important role in extra-EU trade.
Taken together with the import patterns, the export data underline that the EU forestry sector operates predominantly within the internal market, with limited reliance on non-EU trade for both supply and demand.
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
This article is based on Eurostat's annual data collection called European Forest Accounts (EFA). EFA collects essential data on traditional forest resources (wooded land and timber) and the economic activity of the forestry and logging industry.
In addition to EFA, Eurostat, the Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Forestry Section of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) collect and collate statistics on the production and trade of wood through their Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire (JFSQ). Each partner collects data from a different part of the world, Eurostat is responsible for the data collection exercise pertaining to the EU Member States and EFTA countries.
Explore further
Database
Thematic section
Selected datasets
Methodology
- Eurostat's methodological section for forestry statistics and accounts
- Forest resources (ESMS metadata file — for_sfm_esms)
- Economics (ESMS metadata file — for_eaf_esms)