Increasing number of older people with income from forestry

Nyhet | Statistik - 10 December 2024

In 2022, almost 7,100 people over 74 had an income from forestry, which is a doubling since 2011. In total, 46,000 people had an income from forestry in 2022, 36 percent were aged 65 and over.

46,000 people had an income from forestry in 2022, a decrease of 600 compared to the previous year. The statistics include both income from business activities and employment. About 12,700 of them were women and 33,300 were men. The proportion of women with an income from forestry has remained relatively stable between 26 and 30 percent since 2005.

What has changed over the years is the age of those with income from forestry. The difference is most pronounced for the oldest group. In 2008, almost 1.5 percent of those with an income from forestry were over 74 years old, by 2022, this proportion had risen sharply to 15 percent. In terms of numbers, there were 750 people in 2008 and 7,100 people in 2022. There is an underlying trend of increasing age among forest owners. The number of forest owners over the age of 70 has increased by almost 50 percent between 2008 and 2022, according to the Swedish Forest Agency's Land owner statistics.

0.6 percent of employment in Sweden

In 2023, about 29,100 people were employed in forestry, of which 3,300 were women and 25,800 were men. This change when comparing with 2022 is too small to be statistically significant. The number of persons employed in forestry increased in the years after 2005. Since then, employment has fluctuated between 25,000 and 31,000 persons.

The fact that there are fewer people counted as employed than people with income is because even low incomes from forestry are included among people with income. Additionally, there is no equivalent limitation on age or measurement time point as might exist in more traditional employment statistics. Instead, the number of employed is more comparable with the rest of the economy. In 2023, those employed in forestry accounted for approximately 0.6 percent of total employment in Sweden.

More reported occupational accidents in 2023

According to statistics from the Swedish Work Environment Authority, 113 workplace accidents were reported in forestry in 2023. This is an increase from the previous year, when 102 accidents were reported. The number has previously fluctuated between 95 and 120 reported accidents per year since 2008.

Only reported accidents are known, meaning that year-to-year changes can be influenced by the willingness to report accidents. The most common causes of accidents are loss of control over machinery or vehicles, followed by falls. Since 2008, a total of 61 workplace accidents have resulted in fatalities in forestry and the forest industry.

Changes in the statistics

In connection with this publication, the time series of the number of persons with income has also been extended back from 2008 to 1990. However, due to changes in data sources and methods, the time series are not fully comparable throughout the period. From 2004 onwards, a new data source is used to determine entrepreneurial income, namely the Swedish Tax Agency's standardised accounting statements. This has led to a large increase in the number of self-employed with income in the statistics, an increase of 17,000 persons between 2003 and 2004. There are also some differences between the years when the classification of the NACE industries was changed in 1993 and 2008.

At the same time, the time series for the employment is also extended from 2009 to 1990, where the data source is Statistics Sweden's Labour Force Surveys. There are also breaks in the time series, but these are between 2004 and 2005, when the survey adapted its methods and definitions to European statistics in order to improve international comparability. From 2005, there is also a separate time series for the age group 15-74 years, which better reflects the high age of those employed in forestry, previously there was only the age group 16-65 years.

Explanation

The term forestry is based on the Swedish Standard Industrial Classification (SNI2007) which is in term based on the classifications system used by the European Union NACE Rev 2.

Statistics Sweden’s Labour Force Survey is the source of number of employed persons in 02 Forestry. An employed person in the statistics is either an employee or is self-employed or a family worker.

The number of people with income is based on gross income that has been registered in income tax statements and reports from the employer. Both income in terms of wage and income as a sole proprietor (self-employed person) are included. No negative incomes (losses in businesses) are calculated, and only Swedish residents are included. The statistics are based on several of Statistics Sweden’s registries on work, employment and income.

An occupational accident is a sudden incident, physical or psychological damage that has occurred at the workplace or other place where the injured person has been while performing work duties. Only accidents that have led to absence from work are included in the statistics. The Swedish Work Environment Authority is the responsible authority for these statistics.