This country profile presents an overview of the forests based on data reported by to global and European databases.
Forest-sector
Biodiversity
Climate
Bioeconomy
Vitality
%
of land covered by forest1
ha
Forest per capita in 20202
Forest ownership
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Growing stock and increment
The growing stock is defined (FRA 2020) as the volume over bark of all living trees with a minimum diameter of 10 cm at breast height (or above buttress if these are higher). It includes the stem from ground level up to a top diameter of 0 cm, excluding branches.
Growing stock density expresses the volume of total growing stock per hectare forest.
Mm3 over bark
total growing stock in 20203
m3/ha
growing stock density in 20204
Mm3 over bark
gross annual increment in 20155
Fellings and net annual increment
Harvesting and logging activities are not considered deforestation when the forest regenerates naturally or by silvicultural measures.
20150510152025Net annual incrementFellingsYearFelligns and increment in million m3
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Roundwood production
Roundwood production comprises all quantities of wood removed from the forest felling site during a defined period.
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Use of wood
Whiten a range of products and services generated by forests, wood is highlighted as the main raw material for the Forest Bioeconomy sector. Wood is a versatile material used in different industries. Sawmill, panel, pulp, pellet, and energy are some of the traditional industries of the Forest sector.
Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae)
Riparian mixed forests of Quercus robur, Ulmus laevis and Ulmus minor, Fraxinus excelsior or Fraxinus angustifolia, along the great rivers (Ulmenion minoris)
Pannonian woods with Quercus petraea and Carpinus betulus
The conservation status of the protected forest habitats are assessed as “Good”, “Unfavourable-bad”, “Unfavourable-inadequate”, and “Unknown”. The trend in the conservation status of forest species (population status) is assessed as "Improving", "Stable", "Deteriorating", or "Unknown". The conservation status of forest species is reported every 6 years as requested by the Birds and Habitat Directives. Population status is assessed as improving, stable, deteriorating, or unknown.
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The conservation status of the protected forests habitats are mostly assessed as unfavourable-inadequate and unfavourable-bad.
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Trends in status of forest non-bird and bird species
The conservation status of forest species is reported every 6 years as requested by the Birds and Habitat Directives. Population status is assessed as improving, stable, deteriorating, or unknown.
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Tree species composition
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About 50% of forests are composed by two or three tree species.
Structural biodiversity
Age structure is expressed as the share of even-aged and uneven aged forest area. Forests are mainly even-aged with almost half of the stands in the intermediate age structure phase.
The five main carbon pools in forests are aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, deadwood, litter, and soil.
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The role of forests for climate change mitigation
Forests play a vital role in regulating carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. Forests accumulate and store large amounts of carbon in the trees and in the soil as they remove CO2 from the atmosphere and emit greenhouse gases by harvest, decay, or disturbances.
Forests act as a carbon sink, when the uptake, or removal of carbon from the atmosphere, exceeds the amount of carbon released. Forests are considered sources when they emit more than they remove.
MtCO2e
total emissions in 20201
MtCO2e
Forest sink in 20202
LULUCF and emissions reporting
Countries annually report their emissions and removals in the national GHG inventories, including the LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) sector.
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Harvested wood products
Harvested wood products provide benefits to mitigate climate change impacts. Wood products store carbon for a long time. The use of wood products may substitute the use of more fossil energy-intensive materials such as steel and concrete.
Economic activities include the forest-based sector (forestry and logging and the primary processing activities) and the wood-based secondary processing and manufacturing activities.
Employment, turnover, and value-added for the forest and forest-based sector typically refers to economic activities such as forestry and logging, manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, and manufacture of paper and paper products.
(1,000 persons)
total employment in 2020
million EUR
total turnover in 2020
million EUR
total value added in 2019
A substantial part of the employment, turnover and value added in Europe’s wood-based sector takes place in downstream parts of value chains. Below, a more comprehensive overview is presented of economic indicators for the forest-based sector (forestry and logging and the primary processing activities), as well as wood-based secondary processing and manufacturing activities.
Forest-based bioeconomy employment encompasses the workforce distributed in different sectors, comprising forestry, primary processing and secondary processing and manufacturing.
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Forests provide many types of products, which include a wide variety of non-wood forest products (NWFP) such as berries, mushrooms, aromatic and decorative plant material, saps and resins, nuts, honey and wild meat. Their economic and social importance is considerable but available data on NWFP are mostly incomplete and difficult to compare.
Non-wood forest products (NWFP)
Main non-wood forest products in 2015, million EUR
Major pressures affect the forest and their ecosystems. The European member states record the following forest health indicators in a harmonised way: tree crown condition, soil condition and foliar nutrient content. Defoliation is defined as needle/leaf loss in the assessable crown as compared to a reference tree. Defoliation is observed regardless of the cause of foliage loss. Trees are moderately to severely defoliated when defoliation exceeds 25%.
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Main disturbances on forest ecosystems
The main disturbances on forests comprise forest fires, diseases, insects and storms. The occurrence of forest fires has remained stable in the last 10 years.
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Diseases have affected more than 100,000 ha of forests each year for the last several years.
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Wood and bark boring insects damage forests by around 20, 000 ha per year.
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Deforestation
Deforestation is defined as the permanent conversion of forest land to agriculture, grassland, wetland and urban areas. Deforestation covers forest areas where the impacts of disturbance, over-utilisation or changing environmental conditions affect the forest to an extent that it cannot sustain a canopy cover larger than 10 percent.
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Forest fragmentation
Forest fragmentation is breaking large, contiguous forested areas into smaller forest patches, separated by roads, agriculture, utility corridors or other anthropological developments.
Fragmentation is one of many factors that threaten forest health and vitality. Large and intact forest ecosystems are essential to maintaining a good forest condition and biodiversity. Increased fragmentation means that the forest area in the largest patch sizes will decrease and that the small size classes will increase.
