Forest

Estonia is one of the most forested countries in the world. Forests cover nearly half of the mainland in Estonia. The forests here stand out with an abundance of species, preserved thanks to a large proportion of naturally renewed forests and few alien tree species. Forest areas are important in the carbon cycle, binding carbon from the atmosphere in woody plants and forest soil.

Wood is an increasingly important source of renewable energy, valued raw material and building material. Wood is used to make doors, windows, houses and furniture, which are sold on the domestic market and exported to other countries. 

Forest statistics provide information about

  • the size of Estonia’s forest resources;
  • the annual increment of stands;
  • the area of forest land in Estonia;
  • the share of protected forest land;
  • the annual volume of felling.

Based on forest statistics, it is possible to assess how viable and productive are Estonian forests and how well the state ensures their renewal and preservation.

First pilot compilation of the European Forest Accounts with the aim to establish the methodology has been finalized in June 2023 regarding reference year 2019, results and overview can be seen in the report and tables. The work has been co-financed by Eurostat grant  for developing environmental accounts (101022852 — 2020-EE-ENVACC).

Gross felling based on national forest inventory (nfi) 9.98 million m³
-6.61%
2021
Total area of clear felling based on NFI 27.1 thousand hectares
-8.8%
2021
Carbon storage in wooden biomass on forest land 173.42 million tonnes
-1.69%
2021
Area of forest land 2.33 million ha
-0.03%
2022
Total growing stock of stands 456.59 million m³
-1.55%
2022
Increment of stand volume per year 7.4 m³/ha
-1.3%
2022
Territory covered by forest 51.3 %
2022
Share of strictly protected forests in total forest land area 18.1 %
2022
Relative error of felling outturn 20.2 %
2021
Forest resources based on national forest inventory | 2003–2022
Share of strictly protected forests in total forest land area | 2004–2022
Share of forest annual fellings in net annual increment | 2004–2016
Gross felling based on national forest inventory | 2002 – 2021
Unit: m³/ha
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Total felling 119 115 110 118 92 94 88 104 115 105 121 115 132 129 146 153 147 128 121 115
Regeneration felling 210 206 212 258 232 230 211 223 237 243 265 248 251 242 263 274 279 263 253 267
Maintenance felling 73 73 67 62 43 38 37 46 44 39 40 43 44 43 44 44 47 42 43 36
Other felling 29 19 25 64 43 40 12 22 31 35 54 41 50 29 37 41 32 30 20 23

Area of forests, area of stands | 2003 – 2022
Unit: thousand ha
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Area of forest and other wooded land 2,255 2,282 2,271 2,269 2,265 2,230 2,217 2,222 2,235 2,250 2,268 2,295 2,310 2,313 2,331 2,331 2,333 2,325 2,326 2,325
Area of stands 2,091 2,119 2,107 2,114 2,117 2,083 2,071 2,081 2,091 2,102 2,116 2,136 2,146 2,143 2,158 2,149 2,142 2,121 2,118 2,111

Carbon storage in wooden biomass on forest land by dominant tree species | 1992 – 2021
Unit: thousand tons
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Pine 43,925 44,519 45,113 45,707 46,300 46,894 47,488 48,729 52,631 50,410 50,620 50,138 52,726 52,687 55,099 57,707 58,507 58,919 59,015 59,023 59,643 61,041 62,398 62,678 62,162 61,505 60,765 60,331 58,739 57,892
Spruce 25,518 25,863 26,208 26,553 26,898 27,243 27,588 27,174 29,561 29,586 29,213 29,251 29,623 29,254 29,023 28,398 28,316 27,748 28,424 29,080 29,441 30,124 31,583 31,808 32,709 33,279 33,019 32,623 32,087 30,775
Birch 38,140 38,655 39,171 39,686 40,202 40,717 41,233 41,368 43,044 43,418 43,447 43,810 43,810 43,987 43,168 42,938 42,865 44,389 45,628 48,016 48,910 49,529 48,864 49,360 48,965 49,235 48,568 48,716 47,892 47,259
Aspen 10,623 10,766 10,910 11,054 11,197 11,341 11,484 13,751 12,316 12,370 12,371 12,010 11,682 11,581 11,490 11,366 11,518 11,715 11,820 12,271 12,179 12,372 12,229 12,454 12,751 13,225 13,291 13,579 13,642 13,296
Common alder 4,799 4,864 4,929 4,994 5,059 5,123 5,188 4,697 5,298 5,562 5,161 5,566 5,740 5,662 5,429 5,796 5,999 6,154 6,187 6,635 6,913 7,028 6,924 7,348 7,494 7,697 7,497 7,515 7,438 7,343

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