Global forest products facts and figures 2023

A synthesis of major trends in production, trade, and consumption of forest products, 2019-2023, based on the FAOSTAT-Forestry database and including a short summary of recent improvements in FAO’s work on forest product statistics. These data are essential for monitoring change and innovation in the global wood industry. During these five years, global production and trade of most major wood-based products recorded a decline. Global international trade in wood and paper products reached record levels and then dropped off substantially. Global industrial roundwood removals dropped by 4 percent to 1.92 billion m³ in 2023, while global trade decreased by 13 percent to 100 million m³. Sawnwood production in 2023 decreased in all five regions of the world; global trade in sawnwood declined as well. In 2023, paper production declined in Europe and Northern America, while it stagnated in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It grew only in the Asia-Pacific region. Global production of graphic papers in 2023 (84 million tonnes) was at its lowest level since 1987. Wood pellet production has increased dramatically in the last decades, mainly owing to demand generated from bioenergy targets set by European countries, the Republic of Korea and Japan.FAO launched new data series on a wide range of products including production and trade in engineered wood products (EWPs); trade quantity and value of sawdust; and trade value in secondary processed wood products (e.g., wooden furniture) and secondary processed paper products (e.g., composite paper and paperboard). As well, FAO contributed to the update or revision of all major forest product classification systems. New data and data on emerging products contribute to the monitoring of raw wood material and wood product flows as well as to value chain analyses that support the development of a forest-based bioeconomy.