An increase in notified felling in December

Nyhet | Statistik - 21 January 2025

The latest statistics from the Swedish Forest Agency show that the area notified or applied for felling in December 2024 increased 42 percent, compared to December 2023. The area regarding applications for permits for final felling in montane forests increased eight fold, compared to the December 2023.

Experience has shown that statistics regarding notifications and applications can vary from month to month due to the forestry planning of various stakeholders. It is therefore important to be careful when analyzing the monthly data and to not draw conclusions about the planned felling.

The area of received notifications and applications for permits for final felling was 22,721 hectares in December, which was an increase of 42 percent, compared to December 2023. Of this area, applications for permits for final felling of montane forests represented 3,154 hectares, compared with 392 hectares in the same month last year.

Compared to the average area of notifications and applications for the country in December over the previous five years, this is an increase of 18 percent. Compared to the average area for the previous ten years, this is an increase of 12 percent.

Notifications and applications on the regional level in December

The area of notifications and applications increased in all regions. In Northern and Southern Norrland the increase was 115 and 44 percent respectively, compared to the same month last year. For Götaland and Svealand the increase was 27 and 5 percent respectively, compared to the same month last year.

• Northern Norrland – increase of 3,587 hectares (+115 percent)
• Southern Norrland – increase of 1,771 hectares (+44 percent)
• Svealand – increase of 1,040 hectares (+27 percent)
• Götaland – increase of 269 hectares (+5 percent)

A 6 percent decrease in the area covered by notifications and applications in 2024

In 2024, the area of notifications and applications for permits for final felling was 245,473 hectares, which is a decrease of 6 percent, compared to 2023. The area of applications for permits for final felling of montane forests during 2024 was 9,115 hectares, compared to 12,533 hectares during 2023.

In Northern Norrland, the area notified and applied for has decreased by 12 percent, in Svealand by 11 percent and in Götaland by 10 percent. In Southern Norrland the area has increased by 9 percent, compared to the corresponding period 2023.

Compared to the average area of notifications and applications for the country for the previous five years, this is a decrease of 8 percent. Compared to the previous ten years, this is a decrease of 9 percent.

Note that the figures for 2024 are preliminary. We will publish final figures in beginning of March.

Explanation

An increase or decrease in notifications and applications for permits for final felling does not necessarily mean that the area of actual final felling has increased or decreased to the same extent.

Statistics refer to total notifications for felling and applications for permission on productive forest land for final felling in montane forest and valuable broad-leaved forest.

The statistics are part of the Official statistics of Sweden.