Forest accounts: The value of growing stock is 123 billion euros
The Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) has started publishing forest accounts statistics. In 2023, the value of of the growing stock (incl. deadwood) stood at 123 billion euros, and the value of bare forest land at 50 billion euros.
EU regulation introduced an obligation for reporting forest accounts
With the expansion of the EU regulation on Environmental Accounting, all member states must submit annually forest accounts data to the European Union. Finland reported data for 2022 and 2023 this autumn. Forest accounting forms a statistical system covering EU member states. The statistical data are comparable between countries.
Key figures in forest accounts in 2023
The economic aggregates of the forestry and logging industry show that its total output at basic prices was 6,780 million euros. Of this, roundwood accounted for 1,393 million euros. The figures are preliminary data.
According to the FAO definition of forest, Finland's forest area was 22.5 million ha, of which 19.2 million ha was available for wood production. Growing stock volume (incl. deadwood) in Finnish forests was 2,638 million cubic metres, of which 2,309 million cubic metres was on area available for wood production.
The monetary value of forest land (without timber stock) was calculated to be 50 billion euros. Of this, land available for wood production accounted for 46 billion euros. The value of growing stock in forests (incl. deadwood) was calculated to be 123 billion euros (110 billion euros on forests available for wood production).
"The monetary value calculations for forest land produce data that have not been published in Finnish forest statistics before", says senior statistician Aarre Peltola.
Will new statistical information be generated?
The forest accounts figures are mainly based on existing statistics. For example, the National Forest Inventory (NFI) data has been produced for over a hundred years.
Calculating the monetary value of forest land and timber stocks separately produce new statistical information. The monetary value of bare land is calculated by using the MOTTI stand-level analysis tool and decision support system for forest management. MOTTI simulates the development of the forest from a starting point where there are no trees, and it produces net present values for forests of the different site fertility classes and regions. Discount rate of 3 percent is used. NFI produces the area estimates needed for the calculation.
The value of the growing stock is based on VMI data and price statistics. The value of the growing stock is theoretical and does not reflect the realizable timber.
Statistics Finland produces the economic aggregates of the forestry and logging industry. Estimates are based on national accounts.
What do forest accounts include?
Forest accounts statistics produce internationally harmonised data on the area, volume and value of forests. The estimates are based on the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) definition of forest, so they are not strictly comparable to national forest resource statistics.
The statistics also include:
- Economic aggregates of the forestry and logging industry are based on Statistics Finland's national accounts
- Wood supply and use data are compiled from Luke's forest statistics
The forest accounts data are published annually for the whole country.
Forest accounts are part of environmental accounting. Forests are divided into areas available for wood production and areas not available for wood production. The coverage of the statistics regarding forest resources is quite limited, and a more comprehensive picture of forests can be obtained from national forest statistics.
