Forest properties

Updated: 13 September 2024

Next update: Not yet determined

Number of forest properties
Number of forest properties
2023
125 449
 
Forest properties and productive forest area
Forest properties and productive forest area
2023
Number of propertiesShareProductive forest areaShare
In total125 449100.070 871 198100.0
Productive forest area in decares
25-99 decares42 94634.52 387 3763.4
100-249 decares32 79826.15 371 6957.6
250-499 decares21 54917.27 667 39310.8
500-999 decares15 35012.110 764 37015.2
1 000-1 999 decares7 9766.410 986 26815.5
2 000-4 999 decares3 6292.910 710 80215.1
5 000-19 999 decares9660.88 372 58511.8
20 000 decares or more2350.214 610 70920.6
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Commercial roundwood removals, by county and size of property. Cubic metre
    Commercial roundwood removals, by county and size of property. Cubic metre1
    TotalSize class by productive forest area in decares
    25-99 decares100-249 decares250-499 decares500-999 decares1000-1999 decares2000-4999 decares5000-19999 decares20 000 decares or more
    The whole country
    201911 231 975496 5371 015 4551 442 2221 987 6781 761 7501 690 1411 413 0351 425 157
    202010 415 294429 397944 8611 315 0831 665 4831 690 5541 579 8371 295 9811 494 098
    202111 632 299483 3741 076 6031 411 0051 897 0611 923 5571 853 3971 421 4881 565 814
    202211 856 018403 918954 2091 415 3012 022 8841 985 9391 880 6191 648 1171 545 031
    202311 442 375413 359909 1421 316 1911 923 3211 923 6731 698 2661 569 8471 688 576
    County
    Oslo and Viken (2020-2023)2 984 42891 000237 605317 956496 628498 283465 636480 968396 352
    Innlandet4 551 170164 477256 029386 124575 037608 228694 308887 674979 293
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)1 159 99232 19085 147131 230178 423261 434194 23876 470200 860
    Agder834 13319 20756 231116 128195 780211 237165 970::
    Rogaland138 30814 13233 03935 26818 98527 382:::
    Vestland440 41547 777124 98797 070121 46232 6209 509::
    Møre og Romsdal269 35815 14042 60963 85568 062::::
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage782 92417 48050 399112 715198 080168 340130 67239 90565 333
    Nordland - Nordlánnda216 86510 91216 37435 41150 72748 9219 13013 11332 277
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)64 7821 0446 72220 43420 137::::
    1Includes properties with at least 25 decares productive forest area. Figures on roundwood removals are based on data from The Forest Trust Fund.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Forest properties by county and size class
    Forest properties by county and size class1
    2023
    TotalSize class by productive forest area in decares
    25-99 decares100-249 decares250-499 decares500-999 decares1000-1999 decares2000-4999 decares5000-19999 decares20 000 or more
    The whole country125 44942 94632 79821 54915 3507 9763 629966235
    County
    Oslo and Viken (2020-2023)17 7095 6654 5023 0132 3261 27064424148
    Innlandet20 5457 2604 9013 1912 3161 475899399104
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)9 7152 9582 3221 6561 291872504::
    Agder10 9203 0222 5282 0301 7431 026497::
    Rogaland5 0492 0871 40780147821853::
    Vestland17 7136 5975 3223 2201 871564121::
    Møre og Romsdal9 0293 4562 5671 5361 00737780::
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage14 1253 9383 2312 6352 2381 31362310641
    Nordland - Nordlánnda10 9834 0072 9961 9581 2855791291712
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)9 6613 9563 0221 5097952827999
    1Property in The Farm Register with at least 25 decares productive forest area. A forest property includes the total productive forest area owned by one owner within a municipality.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Productive forest area by county and size class in decares
    Productive forest area by county and size class in decares1
    2023
    TotalSize class by productive forest area in decares
    25-99 decares100-249 decares250-499 decares500-999 decares1000-1999 decares2000-4999 decares5000-19999 decares20 000 decares or more
    The whole country70 871 1982 387 3765 371 6957 667 39310 764 37010 986 26810 710 8028 372 58514 610 709
    County
    Oslo and Viken (2020-2023)11 505 989317 539738 4451 077 4831 633 3851 762 8181 969 2782 022 9451 984 096
    Innlandet18 913 418400 728794 7681 134 7751 656 4292 058 9912 721 2233 668 9586 477 545
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)6 657 577164 635380 395594 068913 1261 207 9791 481 039837 0441 079 291
    Agder6 043 467169 523418 345730 3291 230 5481 416 1601 462 105::
    Rogaland1 427 393113 978228 792281 257335 292292 443141 831::
    Vestland4 923 353369 740872 6371 134 3471 287 620752 353329 510::
    Møre og Romsdal2 610 466190 013420 311544 311691 646506 448218 771::
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage10 785 102221 007536 457952 6891 579 4621 820 7051 822 577900 7582 951 446
    Nordland - Nordlánnda4 477 828217 921490 032691 105895 135793 485346 464128 853914 832
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)3 526 606222 291491 513527 029541 725374 886218 00588 9591 062 197
    1Includes properties in The Farm Register with at least 25 decares productive forest area.
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The statistics provide an overview of both the forest properties and forestry as an industry.

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 20 October 2023.

Forest property
Property with at least 25 decares of productive forest area. Property parcels belonging to the same owner within one municipality are treated as one property.

Personal forest owner
Forest owner owning forest area as an individual owner. Forest areas owned jointly by several individuals are included for one of the owners; the reference owner.

Legal owners
Central government, the Educational Fund, common forest owned by the central government (Statsallmenning), common forest not owned by the central government (Bygdeallmenning), limited company, foundation, municipality etc.

Name: Forest properties
Topic: Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing

Not yet determined

Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics

Municipality.

Yearly.

Not relevant

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The purpose of these statistics is to provide an overview of both the forest properties and forestry as an industry. Since 2006, Statistics Norway has published annual statistics for all forest properties by merging data from different administrative data sources. Prior to this, statistics for all forest properties were only available based on full censuses, the last of which was in 1989.

The main users of the statistics are professional forestry organisations, The Ministry of Agriculture and Food and various research and educational institutions.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

Statistics Norway has yearly statistics on commercial roundwood removals and silviculture based on the same sources as these statistics. Linking the Farm Register with these sources makes it possible to publish figures on commercial removals and silviculture by the size of the productive forest area of the properties and the forest owners' productive forest area.

The National Forest Inventory also publishes figures on the productive forest area in Norway. The inventory estimates a productive forest area that is more than 10 per cent larger than the aggregated areas from the forest properties. The National Forest Inventory estimates the area based on sample plots.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

Not relevant

Including 2010, the statistics comprise all properties in the Farm Register of the Norwegian Agricultural Authority with at least 25 decares of productive forest area.

As from 2011, the number of forest properties and productive forest area are based on new cartographic data analyses and data on owners and properties from the cadastre in combination with data from the Farm register.

Some forest owners are represented in the Farm Register with more than one property within one municipality. In these cases, the properties owned by the same owner are merged into one property within the municipality. Thus the statistics on forest properties up to and including 2011 will include fewer units than the Farm Register. As from 2012 the number of forest properties incresed.

Common forests owned by the central government (Statsallmenning) will always be counted as one single property.

The statistics are derived from existing administrative data files.

Carteographic data and data on forest owners and properties from the cadastre (Land register) are combiined with The Farm Register of the Norwegian Agriculture Agency, and serves as the backbone of the statistics. The information from the Farm Register is combined with information at property level from different data sources such as the Register of Timber Trade and Diverted Trust Fund, and the Forest Trust Fund.

The statistics are derived from the whole population of forest properties.

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data.The statistics are based on linked data files that were edited separately when established. The information on the productive forest area is checked if errors are suspected. Examples: i) If a forest property has commercial felling and does not have a forest area. ii) If a large forest property does not have commercial felling.

Not relevant

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

The statistics on forest properties are comparable with statistics from the Census of Forestry 1967 and the Censuses of Agriculture and Forestry 1979 and 1989. They are also essentially comparable with statistics from the Sample Survey of Agriculture and Forestry in the 1990s and in 2000 and 2004. The number of forest properties has fallen from 128 300 in 1967 to 116 502 in 2005. The Censuses of Agriculture and Forestry 1979 and 1989 calculated 120 900 and 125 500 forest properties respectively. It has been difficult to trace all small-sized properties without commercial felling. In some regions it is difficult to assess whether the areas are productive or not. As from 2011, carteographic analysis are used to decide the properties and the number of properties increased to 131 800 properties. After a review of the properties that fullfill the requirement, the total in 2014 came to 128 200. This causes difficulties when comparing the number of forest properties over time.

Statistics are published for both forest properties and personal forest owners. The following is a brief explanation of the relationship between these units: a forest property is the forest owners' total productive forest area within a municipality. A forest owner may own forest properties in more than one municipality. Therefore the number of forest owners is less than the number of forest properties with a personal forest owner. About 113 000 forest properties with a personal owner are registered in The Farm Register. Out of the personal forest owners, almost 3 000 are deceased, living abroad or lacking information. The statistics on incomes are based on the personal forest owners that are alive.

The main concern is the quality of productive forest area. In the cadastre, 920 000 decares productive forest area are not linked to a title number of a holding number, and will not be included in the statistics. Furthermore, errors may arise when data are entered into the various administrative registers. Including 2010, 2-3 per cent of the quantity of commercial roundwood felled is not linked to any forest property. As from 2011, the Forest Trust Fund is used as source for roundwood cut. The new source also includes energy woood and some assortments that are removed from the statististics on commercial roundwood removals.

Not relevant

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