The latest National Statistics on woodland produced by Forest Research were released on 20 June 2024 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Key findings

• The area of woodland in the UK at 31 March 2024 is estimated to be 3.28 million hectares. This represents 13% of the total land area in the UK, 19% in Scotland, 15% in Wales, 10% in England, and 9% in Northern Ireland.
• Of the total UK woodland area, 0.86 million hectares is owned or managed by Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, Natural Resources Wales or the Forest Service (in Northern Ireland).
• The total certified woodland area in the UK at 31 March 2024 is 1.44 million hectares, including all Forestry England/Forestry and Land Scotland/Welsh Government Woodland Estate/Forest Service woodland. Overall, 44% of the UK woodland area is certified.
• Around 21 thousand hectares of newly created woodland were reported in the UK in 2023/24.
• Around 16 thousand hectares of publicly funded woodland restocking were reported in the UK in 2023/24.
• Woodland Carbon Code projects in the UK that were validated (including those that were also verified) at 31 March 2024 were predicted to sequester a total of 11.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over their lifetime of up to 100 years. This represents 9.6 million tonnes in Scotland, 1.4 million tonnes in England, 381 thousand tonnes in Wales and 38 thousand tonnes in Northern Ireland.

Details

Coverage: United Kingdom

Geographical breakdown: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Statistician: Dan Braby

Contact: Francisco Gonzalez

Tel: 0300 067 5238

Email: statistics@forestresearch.gov.uk

Next update

26 June 2025

Provisional data for the year to 31 March 2025 will be published in Provisional Woodland Statistics 2025.

Pre-release access

Information on pre-release access to this publication can be found in the pre-release access page.

Downloads

Additional Resources

Methodology

More detailed information on the methodology for estimating woodland area is provided in the sources’ chapter of Forestry Statistics 2023. The estimates make use of the National Forest Inventory data. Further information (including reports) can be found on the National Forest Inventory page.

Previous releases

• Provisional Woodland Statistics 2023
• Provisional Woodland Statistics 2022
• Provisional Woodland Statistics 2021
• Provisional Woodland Statistics 2020
• Provisional Woodland Statistics 2019

Prior to the 2019 edition of Provisional Woodland Statistics, the reported figures were published in two separate releases:

• Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking; and
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics (previously released on a quarterly basis).

Early provisional results for UK woodland area, certified woodland area and areas of new planting and publicly funded restocking were provided in the First Release Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking published every June:

• Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking: 2018 Edition
• Woodland Area, Planting and Publicly Funded Restocking: 2017 Edition
• Woodland Area, Planting and Restocking: 2016 Edition
• Woodland Area, Planting and Restocking: 2015 Edition

Woodland Carbon Code releases provided statistics for projects registered under the Woodland Carbon Code and were released quarterly until Spring 2018:

• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to March 2018; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to December 2017; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to September 2017; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to June 2017; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to March 2017; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to December 2016; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to September 2016; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to June 2016; EXCEL
• Woodland Carbon Code Statistics: Data to March 2016; EXCEL

User engagement

In order to improve the statistics that we produce and to ensure that they remain relevant, we are interested in hearing from people who use our statistics. More information on how we consult users and contact details can be found on our user engagement page.