Forestry is an important industry for New Zealand
Forestry contributes:
- an annual gross income of around $6.6 billion
- 1.6% of New Zealand's GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
- to the employment of between 35,000 and 40,000 people in wood production, processing, and the commercial sector.
Forestry and wood products are New Zealand's fourth-largest export earner, just behind horticulture.
New Zealand is a small player in the international forestry industry, contributing only 1.1% of the world's total supply of industrial wood and 1.3% of the world's trade in forest products.
An estimated 34.38 million cubic metres of timber was harvested in the year ended March 2021. Volumes are expected to be high for the next decade (to 2030) as forests planted in recent decades reach maturity.
The export value of forest products in the year to June 2022 was $6.58 billion – $3.63 billion from logs and $2.95 billion from other forest products.
Forestry and wood processing supply chain diagram
We've created a diagram of the supply chain. It gives a view of the relationships between forestry and wood product suppliers, inputs, processes, outputs, and customers. We published it in December 2022.
New Zealand forestry and wood processing supply chain — Pinus radiata [PDF, 480 KB]
If you have questions or feedback about the diagram, email teururakau@mpi.govt.nz
Forestry nurseries and forest establishment supply chains
These descriptions and accompanying diagrams explain forestry supply chains in detail. They describe the activities to produce forestry nursery stock through to the activities required to establish a forest. They give a view of the relationships between inputs, outputs, customers and suppliers and these activities.
- Pinus radiata and native forestry nurseries supply chain description [PDF, 981 KB]
Interactions among different parts of these nurseries' supply chain, including the pre-establishment phase of nursery stock production. Includes diagrams. (October 2023) - Pinus radiata and native forestry nurseries supply chain diagram [PDF, 220 KB]
- Pinus radiata nurseries supply chain diagram [PDF, 196 KB]
- Native forestry nurseries supply chain diagram [PDF, 162 KB]
- Forest establishment supply chain description [PDF, 4.3 MB]
Processes of forestry establishment, from planning activities to post-planting care and replanting land which has already been forested. Includes seedlings that have been established and are surviving without managed intervention. (March 2024) - Forest establishment supply chain diagram [PDF, 186 KB]
Forestry data on Canopy
More forestry data is on the Canopy website. Find tables and reports of the data below, plus these interactive visualisations:
- Total harvesting in hectares, by species
- Forest distribution by region
- Age class distribution by wood supply region
Statistics and data about forestry in New Zealand
Find surveys, statistics and reports compiled from MPI, Statistics New Zealand and other sources on many aspecs of the forest industry.
New Zealand forest data
Forest surveys, statistics and reports on:
- deforestation surveys
- forest land under the Emissions Trading Scheme
- National Exotic Forest Description reports and yield tables
- stock sales from commercial forestry nurseries
- wood availability forecasts.
Forestry facts and figures – New Zealand Forest Owners’ Association
Wood processing data
Survey statistics from wood processors around New Zealand, compiled with export data sources from Statistics New Zealand. Covers:
- log and roundwood removal
- sawn timber
- panels
- pulp, paper, and paperboard
- quarterly production, stock and roundwood removals.
Wood product markets data
Data on forestry imports and exports and indicative log prices. Includes latest indicative New Zealand radiata pine log prices.
Who to contact
If you have questions about forestry statistics or would like to get them in a CSV format, email stats_info@mpi.govt.nz
