Stumpage earnings increased to EUR 3.1 billion in 2023

According to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), the stumpage earnings of forest owners increased to EUR 3.1 billion in 2023. While the earnings were higher than ever before in euro terms, they fell short of the peak years in the 2000s in real terms. The earnings increased by two per cent from the previous year and by eight per cent from the average of the previous five years in real terms, when deflated using the cost-of-living index.

The most significant part of stumpage earnings, EUR 2,610 million, was accumulated from non-industrial private forests. In real terms, the stumpage earnings accumulated from non-industrial private forests increased by one per cent from the previous year. Stumpage earnings from forests owned by the forest industry or the state increased by 11 per cent from the year before to EUR 486 million. Of total stumpage earnings, logs accounted for 65 per cent, pulpwood for 28 per cent and energy wood for the remaining seven per cent. Spruce continued to be the most significant tree species, with its share of 42 per cent.

Stumpage earnings increased even though felling volumes decreased

Stumpage earnings increased by two per cent from the previous year in real terms as a result of the exceptionally high increase in prices paid for wood. The increase in prices paid for pulpwood and energy wood especially increased forest owners’ earnings. The prices paid for pulpwood increased by 18–23 per cent in real terms, while the average prices of energy wood were up to 1.7 times higher than in the previous year in standing sales.

Decrease in felling volumes had a less significant impact on stumpage earnings than the price increases. Felling volumes of logs decreased by four per cent and pulpwood by five per cent from the previous year, whereas energy wood harvesting volumes increased by eight per cent.

While the majority of stumpage earnings comes from logs, the increase in the prices paid for pulpwood and energy wood was reflected in their increased percentage of total stumpage earnings. Logs accounted for 65 per cent of the earnings, down by five percentage points from the year before. The share of pulpwood from the earnings increased by three percentage points to 28 per cent and that of energy wood by two percentage points to seven per cent.

“The discontinued import of wood from Russia has increased competition over domestic wood. This can be seen as higher prices in wood trade, especially for pulpwood and energy wood. Even though felling volumes decreased in 2023, the significant increase in wood prices raised stumpage earnings to more than EUR 3 billion for the first time,” says Markus Toikka, Senior Statistician at Luke.

Savonia and North Karelia at the top of the earnings table

Denominated in euro, stumpage earnings were highest in North Savo at EUR 331 million. In South Savo and North Karelia, stumpage earnings were slightly below EUR 300 million. Earnings increased the most in Lapland, by 13 per cent in real terms. In Satakunta and Central Ostrobothnia, earnings increased by roughly ten per cent from the previous year.

Examining stumpage earnings by tree species, the role of spruce is emphasised in the regions with fertile soil in Southern Finland where its share from wood sales income increased at its highest to roughly 64 per cent in Päijät-Häme. In Northern Finland, pine was clearly the most important tree species, accounting for 60–76 per cent of stumpage earnings.

Stumpage earnings as part of the national accounts

Gross stumpage earnings are calculated by multiplying the felling volume by standing sales prices. In addition to earnings from selling wood, the value of wood sourced for private use by forest owners is also counted as earnings. The statistical data are used, for example, in calculations for the national accounts and as background information for decision-making in the forest sector. Luke’s statistics database (luke.fi/en/statistics) includes statistics on stumpage earnings since 2002. The statistics on stumpage earnings are compiled by region according to the location of harvested forests.

Background information about the statistics

Stumpage earnings are recorded in the statistics database at nominal, or fair, prices valid at the time in question. However, price changes are examined in the texts and graphs in real terms by eliminating the change in value using the cost-of-living index (1951:10=100). Based on the cost-of-living index, the inflation rate was roughly six per cent in 2023. In previous publications of the statistics on stumpage earnings, changes in value were calculated using the wholesale index.

In the final statistics, data were specified to be significantly higher than in preliminary statistics. Preliminary data on stumpage earnings in 2023 were published in February. According to the final statistics on commercial fellings, log and pulpwood removals increased by 2.4 and energy wood removals by 1.7 million cubic metres from the preliminary data. These changes are also reflected in the statistics on stumpage earnings. The reason for the changes in the data is that the final statistics on commercial fellings are calculated based on data provided by more than 120 companies, whereas monthly data provided by only 25 companies were available for the preliminary statistics.