Paper and wood: forest products show signs of recovery, according to UN agency

The global forest products sector saw a recovery in 2024 after a sharp decline the previous year, according to a new study. report published Wednesday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

FAO statistics cover 77 product categories, 27 product groups and more than 245 countries and territories. The report presents recent trends in trade data for each of the major forest product groups.

What are the main trends?

Global international trade in wood and paper products regained momentumwith modest growth recorded in most major product groups, according to FAO.

• This recovery comes after an overall decline of 14 percent in trade in wood and paper products in 2023.
• Industrial roundwood extractions, which refer to the total volume of wood harvested for non-energy purposes, increased by 2 percent in 2024, although their global trade declined by 1 percent.
• Global production of sawn timber such as boards, beams and other manufactured wood products remained virtually unchanged but varied by region. The sawn timber trade generally recorded no change compared to 2023.
• Wood-based panels increased for the second year in a row. Global production increased by 5 percent.
• Wood pulp production rose 3 percent to 189 million tonnes, while international trade rose 2 percent to a record 73 million tonnes.
• Wood pellets have experienced extraordinary growth in recent decades, driven primarily by bioenergy targets in Europe, the Republic of Korea and Japan. After a slight decline in 2023, global production returned to 48 million tonnes in 2024, i.e. the 2022 level.

Why it matters

Different types of trees can be used for housing, shelter, heating, food, medicine and even textiles or buildings.

“Forests support millions of livelihoods around the world, and this number is set to increase as they provide more economic opportunities in a growing range of industries, including sustainable timber production,” said FAO Director-General Dongyu Qu.

Promoting the sustainable use of forests is also part of Sustainable Development Goal 15, a vision that countries have agreed on.

When used sustainably, forests support life. Another recently published report FAO’s forest resources assessment showed that the net loss of forest area has been reduced by more than half since the 1990s and that more than 90 percent of forests are regenerating naturally.