Forestry Statistics and Forestry Facts & Figures

The latest National Statistics on forestry produced by the Forestry Commission were released on 30 September 2021 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Detailed statistics are published in the online publication Forestry Statistics 2021, with an extract in Forestry Facts & Figures 2021. They include UK statistics on woodland area, planting, timber, trade, carbon, environment, social, 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 area of woodland in the United Kingdom at 31 March 2021 is estimated to be 3.2 million hectares; 1.41 million hectares (44%) are independently certified as sustainably managed.
• 13.3 thousand hectares of new woodland were created in the UK in 2020-21.
• 10.7 million green tonnes of UK roundwood (softwood and hardwood) were delivered to primary wood processors and others in 2020, representing a 3% decrease from the previous year.
• Wood products imported into the UK in 2020 were valued at £7.5 billion and included 7.2 million cubic metres of sawnwood, 3.3 million cubic metres of wood-based panels, 9.1 million tonnes of wood pellets and 4.4 million tonnes of paper.
• The total area of native woodland in Great Britain is estimated to be around 1.51 million hectares (49% of all woodland in Great Britain).
• Around two thirds (69%) of respondents to the UK Public Opinion of Forestry Survey 2021 had visited forests or woodlands in the last few years. Of those, 36% reported an increase in the number of visits in the last 12 months
• The Annual Business Survey reported average employment in 2019 of 18 thousand in forestry, 7 thousand in sawmilling and 5 thousand in panel mills.
• Gross Value added (GVA) in primary wood processing (sawmilling, panels and pulp & paper) was £1.57 billion in the UK in 2019. GVA in forestry was £0.65 billion.
• The UK was the second largest net importer (imports less exports) of forest products in 2019, behind China. 

Coverage: United Kingdom

Geographical breakdown: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Publications:

Forestry Statistics 2021

PDFs of individual chapters can also be dowloaded below:

• Introduction and Glossary
• Chapter 1 - Woodland Area & Planting
• Chapter 2 - UK-Grown 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

Forestry Facts & Figures 2021: can be downloaded or a hard copy ordered (free) from Forestry Facts and Figures 2021. Tables are also available in EXCEL format. 

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

Statistician: Sheila Ward 

Contact: Robert Stagg

tel: 0300 067 5238

e-mail: statistics@forestresearch.gov.uk

Next update: 29 September 2022

Pre-release access: Information on pre-release access to this publication can be found at Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics.