This study presents estimates of the economic impacts of forestry in the UK. The first part offers an economic view of the industry in a policy context, and covers the main conclusions from the analysis. The second part sets out the detailed methodology behind the measurements, with scenarios presented in part 3. The report was carried out on behalf of the Forestry Commission by PACEC and Cogentsi, and completed in January 2004.

The forest industry in Great Britain harvests almost 8 million tonnes of wood per year and supplies it to sawmills, panelboard mills, paper and board mills and for a number of miscellaneous uses. The industry itself provides jobs for 17200 people, and the wood-using industries based on British timber a further 11200, with 1100 engaged in haulage. Probably a further 1200 jobs exist in Northern Ireland.

This report has set these three British employment estimates in an historical and industrial context. It has calculated the numbers employed in the supply chains for the forest industry itself (7400 including the supply chain for transport activities) and the wood-using industries (9500 excluding the jobs in timber and its supply chain). These five sources of employment based on British wood add up to over 45 000 jobs, or 0.17 per cent of all the jobs in the UK. They are split across the member countries of the UK in the ratio England: 48 per cent, Wales: 13 per cent and Scotland: 36 per cent. (Northern Ireland 3 per cent by assumption only). In addition, when the jobholders spend their income, this in turn supports a further 20 000 jobs, making more than 65 000 in all, roughly one quarter of one per cent of the workforce.