Introduction

This chapter contains information about UK imports and exports of wood products, and about the level of apparent consumption estimated from data for UK production, imports, and exports.

Most information on imports and exports come from the Overseas Trade Statistics compiled by HM Revenue & Customs. Estimates are provided at a UK level only. International comparisons of apparent consumption are provided later in the International Forestry chapter. Further information on the data sources and methodology used to compile the figures is provided in the Sources chapter.

Statistics for 2021 were previously published in UK Wood Production and Trade: provisional figures, released on 19 May 2022. Some figures for 2021 and earlier years have been revised from those previously published. For further details on revisions, see the Trade section of the Sources chapter.

A copy of all trade tables can be accessed in spreadsheet format from the Data Downloads page.

Key findings

The main findings are:

UK imports

• 8.2 million cubic metres of sawnwood in 2021, a 13% increase from 2020;
• 3.8 million cubic metres of wood-based panels in 2021, a 16% increase from 2020;
• 9.1 million tonnes of wood pellets in 2021, a 1% increase from 2020;
• 4.2 million tonnes of paper in 2021, an 8% decrease from 2020.
• The total value of wood product imports in 2021 was £8.5 billion, representing a 14% increase from 2020; of which £3.1 billion was pulp and paper.
• Sawn softwood, particleboard, fibreboard, and paper and paperboard were overwhelmingly imported from EU countries in 2021.
• Sawn hardwood and wood pulp imports originated from a range of both EU and non-EU countries in 2021.
• The vast majority of UK imports of plywood and wood pellets in 2021 came from countries outside the EU.
• Apparent consumption of wood in the UK was 53.1 million m³ wood raw material equivalent underbark in 2021, representing a 3% decrease from the previous year.

UK exports

• The total value of wood product exports in 2021 was £2.0 billion, a 27% increase from 2020; of which £1.7 billion was pulp and paper.

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