Increase in wood removed from Irish forests, figures show

Published: Fri 5 Jun 2026, 1:43 PM

Wood removed from Irish forests increased by 18% from 4.4 million cubic metres in 2024 to 5.2 million cubic metres in 2025, according to the CSO.

Wood in its natural state was removed, valued at €238 million, which is an increase of 1% from €236 million. Although it is a 6% decrease from a high of €253 million in 2022.

When it came to privately owned forests, removals were 2.9 million cubic metres, accounting for over half of the total removals in 2025.

In general, the CSO recorded roundwood removals, which are wood in its natural state, and 0% of the removals were Coniferous roundwood.

Niamh Shanahan, Statistician at the CSO, commented on the release. She said: “In 2025, 5.2 million cubic metres of roundwood, which is wood in its natural state, was removed from Irish forests (See Table 1A).

“This was up 18% compared with 2024, when 4.4 million cubic metres were removed, and was the highest volume of roundwood removed across the 2015-2025 time series. The impact of Storm Éowyn in early 2025 likely impacted the increase in roundwood removed from Irish forests.

“Privately-owned forests provided the majority of the wood, accounting for 57% of the total wood removed, with publicly-owned forests making up the rest at 43%. Compared with 2024, removals from public forests fell by 6%, while removals from private forests rose by 48% (See Figure 1, Tables 1D, and 1E).

“This was the first year in the time series where removals from private forests were higher than removals from publicly-owned forests. Nearly all of the wood removed in 2025 (99%) came from coniferous trees (See Table 1B).

In 2025, the value of wood taken from forests was €238 million. This was 1% higher than the value of wood in 2024, in contrast to the 18% increase in the volume of wood removed in 2025.

“The highest product share of the wood removed in 2025 was large sawlogs (used in construction) at 36% of the total removals volume, followed by small sawlogs at 28%, and pulpwood at 24% (See Figure 2 and Table 3A). These three categories together accounted for approximately 90% of all wood removed from Irish forests each year."