Forest product production and trade statistics have focused historically on wood-based goods, which are the main products derived from forests for which established markets exist. This is changing but, for many forest owners and managers, wood and wood-fibre products are still the most important source of income and employment in forestry and account for most of the value of global forest product trade (Figure 1). This section examines the state of wood production and trade; NWFPs – for which data are increasingly available – are addressed in the next section. Data are less readily available for the monetary returns on forest services and are not reported here. It is recognized, however, that societies are highly dependent on forest services: for example, more than half of world gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to depend significantly on ecosystem services, including forest services.4
Figure 1Share of global forest product exports, by product category, 2022
SOURCES: FAO. 2023. FAOSTAT: Forestry Production and Trade. [Accessed on 29 December 2023]. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO.
Licence: CC-BY-4.0.; and UN Comtrade. 2023. United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. [Accessed on 29 December 2023]. https://comtradeplus.un.org/
Global roundwood removals (also a proxy for global roundwood production and consumption) increased consistently between 1961 and 1990, was relatively steady for two decades at around 3.5 billion m3 per year (Figure 2),l and grew again from about 2010. The world produced 13 percent more roundwood in 2022 than in 1990. Given that, in the same period, the world population increased by 50 percent and world GDP per capita grew by 174 percent, the growth of roundwood production may be considered moderate, with wood production per capita decreasing in the last few decades.41
Figure 2World roundwood production, comprising industrial roundwood and woodfuel, 1961–2022
World roundwood removals have amounted to about 4 billion m³ annually in recent years, around half of which has been used for fuel, either directly (as fuelwood) or in the production of charcoal and pellets. Most of the remaining 2 billion m³ of wood removals per year has been used as raw material (i.e. industrial roundwood) to produce sawnwood, wood-based panels and woodpulp. Most of the woodpulp and recovered paper has been used for paper and paperboard production.m
The COVID-19 pandemic had a relatively short-term impact on the production and trade of forest products: after declining significantly in 2020, the global production and trade of almost all major wood-based products reached record highs in 2021. Production and trade declined for most wood products in 2022 due to disruptions to global supply chains, combined with a slowdown in consumer demand and the introduction of new trade restrictions in some countries.
Global industrial roundwood removals were almost unchanged in 2022 compared with 2021, at 2.04 billion m³, which was a record volume (Figure 2). Global trade declined sharply in 2022 – by 17 percent – to 119 million m³, of which 37 percent comprised imports by China. Log export restrictions introduced by the Russian Federation accounted for half the global contraction.17, 42
Share of woodfuel in total wood production
Woody biomass, especially fuelwood and charcoal from forests, provides crucial basic energy services for cooking and heating. About 2.3 billion people worldwide (29 percent of the world’s population) relied on woody biomass for these purposes in 2021, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.43 The share of woodfuel in global roundwood production decreased from 60 percent in 1961 to 49.4 percent in 2022 (Table 2), while in the same year (2022), the share was 90 percent in Africa and 60 percent in Asia.17 Industrial roundwood production exceeded woodfuel production for the first time in history in 2018 (Figure 2).
TABLE 2Roundwood production, by major use, 2022
https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
Woodfuel is generally considered the most affordable and reliable energy source, especially for low-income people in the Global South and those affected by disasters and humanitarian crises. Major concerns arising from the widespread use of woodfuel include its impacts on forest degradation and deforestation, indoor air pollution resulting from burning woodfuel with rudimentary stoves, and the implications for higher-value-added uses of wood.
Most (82 percent) woodfuel is produced and used in Africa, Asia and South America; the remainder comprises 13 percent in Europe and North America and 5 percent in the rest of the world (Table 2). More than half the world’s industrial roundwood is produced in Europe and North America and 39 percent is produced in Africa, Asia and South America combined.
