New record high harvesting costs

Nyhet | Statistik - 18 June 2024

The cost of harvesting (felling and extraction to roadside) increased by 9 percent in 2023, according to new statistics from the Swedish Forest Agency and Skogforsk. Costs for regeneration harvests have risen every year since 2017, by 39 percent in all. The producer price index has increased by 41 percent during the same period.

During 2023 harvesting costs (in current prices), on average for the whole country, have increased by:

• 9 percent to SEK 134 per cubic metre for regeneration harvest.
• 8 percent to SEK 269 per cubic metre for thinning.

The cost for regeneration harvests increased in both northern and southern Sweden during 2023. The largest increase was in northern Sweden by 12 percent, while the cost rose by 6 percent in southern Sweden.  

The cost of both regeneration harvests and thinning is at its highest level since 1996, the year of origin for these statistics. Since then, the cost of regeneration harvests has increased by 48 per cent while thinning has increased by 76 percent. During the same period the producer price index has risen by 84 percent.

Costs for silvicultural measures including pre-commercial thinning

During 2023 most costs for silviculture also increased. The costs for:

• clear-cut cleaning increased by 4 percent to SEK 1 840 per hectare
• scarification has increased by 7 percent to SEK 3 190 per hectare
• planting (including plants) has increased by 15 percent to SEK 7 050 per hectare
• sowing has decreased by 2 percent to SEK 5 870 per hectare
• precommercial thinning has increased by 15 percent to SEK 3 340 per hectare
• fertilization and liming has increased by 12 percent to SEK 3 800 per hectare

Explanation

These statistics are volume weighted or area-weighted and relate to current prices. The survey population is large scale forestry with an ownership of more than 16 000 hectares forest land or an annual felling of more than 50 000 m³.

The survey is a collaboration between the Swedish Forest Agency and Skogforsk (The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden) and is included in Sweden’s official statistics.

For a comparison with other price developments in the economy the producer price index or home market price index is recommended, it is made available by Statistics Sweden here:

Producer and import price index (scb.se)

The estimations are also available in the web-based statistical database.