A report on the economic contribution of the forestry sector in Scotland showed that Scottish forestry contributes nearly £1 billion GVA to Scotland's economy every year. GVA measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the UK.
Findings: the numbers explained
Forestry's economic contribution to Scotland is £954 million GVA:
- £771 million comes from forestry and timber processing
- £183 million comes from forest recreation and tourism
Employment levels are up with more than 25,000 full time employees now working in the sector.
Forestry and timber processing:
- contributes £771 million GVA per year to Scotland's economy
- employs 19,555 people (full time) in Scotland
Forest recreation and tourism:
- contributes £183 million GVA to the Scottish economy every year
- employs 6,312 people (full time) in Scotland
The economic contribution of local forestry
Across Scotland, local small businesses and community initiatives, aiming to own, manage and use woodlands and their produce are growing into a dynamic sector.
This sector is still small in financial terms, but it's growing and has large positive local impacts, especially in remote rural locations where there's often little alternative occupation or opportunity for business development.
Read the study about the value of spporting local forestry businesses for more information.
Future economic development
We support initiatives through the Timber Development Programme to help the wood fibre sector add value across the whole supply chain and find the most appropriate end market for Scotland’s timber.
The programme involves successful partnerships and collaborations with public sector bodies and industry to initiate and support innovation, research and development, promotion and knowledge transfer. It helps meet timber and climate change actions in:
- our Forestry Strategy
- the Forest and Timber Technologies Industry Strategy
- Scotland's Economic Strategy