Forest accounts 2020

Figures corrected in 2017–2021 data on 29.11.2023.​

Read more on the page Changes and corrections in the statistics.​

• In 2020, the total consumption of wood dry-matter in Finland was 36.8 million tonnes, a decrease of 6% from the previous year. Years 2018 and 2019 were both peak years in the consumption of wood dry-matter.
• According to the forest sector’s mass balance, as much as 58% of all wood dry-matter used in Finland ended up for energy generation. The share of energy use increased by 1 percentage point from the previous year. At the turn of the millennium, energy generation accounted for only 48% of wood dry-matter. Energy generation in heating and power plants are the reason for this change.  Heating and power plants produce energy from black liquor and other concentrated liquors and from solid wood fuels. In addition to this, small-scale housing also consume energy wood, but their share of the use of wood dry-matter has been quite stable.
• Of all wood dry-matter used in Finland in 2020, 41% 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 2020, 8% of all used wood dry-matter was tied up in paper and 8% in paperboard. The share of paper has decreased in the 21st century, and the same trend continued in 2020. The share of wood pulp was 11%, the share of sawn goods 12%, and the share of wood-based panels 2%.
• In 2020, 14.5 million tonnes of wood dry-matter were exported from Finland. From this, the share of forest industry products was 13.8 million tonnes, and the share of roundwood and wood residues 0.7 million tonnes. The most significant changes in the 21st century have been the increase in exports of wood pulp and the decrease in paper.
• Wood dry-matter imports  consisted of 5.5 million tonnes  as roundwood and wood residues, and 1.2 million tonnes as forest industry products.
• 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.

Change in statistics 1.1.2021. 

Read more on the page Changes and corrections in the statistics.​