Flows of wood material 2023

In 2023, the total consumption of wood dry-matter in Finland was 35.8 million tonnes. The amount decreased by 3% from the previous year. 

• Of all wood dry-matter used in Finland in 2023, 38% was tied up in forest industry products. At the turn of the millennium, the share was about 50%. After the recession in 2008, the annual amount of wood dry-matter tied up in forest industry products has been continuously lower than that used in energy generation. 
• In 2023, 8% of all used wood dry-matter was tied up in paperboard and 6% tied up in paper. The share of paper has decreased in the 21^st century, and at the same time the share of paperboard has slowly increased. In 2023, the share of wood pulp was 11%, the share of sawn goods 12%, and the share of wood-based panels 1%.
• According to the forest sector’s mass balance, as much as 61% of all wood dry-matter used in Finland ended up for energy generation (+1 percentage point from the previous year). The majority of the wood dry-matter that ended up in energy production consisted of either 1) forest industry by-products or various wood residues or 2) black liquor and other concentrated liquors from wood pulp industry. 
• In 2023, 13.4 million tonnes of wood dry-matter were exported from Finland. From this, the share of forest industry products was 12.6 million tonnes, and the share of roundwood and wood residues 0.8 million tonnes. The most significant changes in the 21st century have been the increase in exports of wood pulp and the decrease in paper.
• The volume of wood dry-matter imports was 2,8 million tonnes. Of  this, roundwood and wood residues consisted of 2.1 million tonnes, and forest industry products 0.7 million tonnes.
• The data is based on the forest accounts by Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). The supply and consumption volumes of different products are converted into the same unit of measurement: dry-matter tons of wood. This makes it possible to compare the amounts of wood material bound directly in wood and in forest industry products.