Forest properties

Updated: 8 November 2022

Next update: 14 September 2023

Number of forest properties
Number of forest properties
2021
124 551
Forest properties and productive forest area
Forest properties and productive forest area
2021
Number of propertiesShareProductive forest areaShare
In total124 551100.069 724 312100.0
Productive forest area in decares
25-99 decares42 09034.32 361 3943.4
100-249 decares32 75426.15 361 9977.7
250-499 decares21 67217.37 703 87711.0
500-999 decares15 35812.310 757 55115.4
1 000-1 999 decares7 9156.410 897 04915.6
2 000-4 999 decares3 5762.910 520 84315.1
5 000-19 999 decares9600.88 347 25712.0
20 000 decares or more2260.213 774 34319.8
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and figures 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
    201710 515 878504 8171 051 4551 293 1531 669 3151 662 1631 569 3241 184 8681 580 783
    201810 978 200525 4681 113 9551 391 4291 843 4171 715 8141 636 6571 302 7421 448 718
    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
    County
    Oslo and Viken3 101 515152 215346 305401 672544 017536 549452 143330 324338 290
    Innlandet4 512 286161 774271 259384 937506 403594 188777 968873 911941 846
    Vestfold og Telemark1 226 83239 51894 939125 948214 874205 879244 006124 730176 938
    Agder878 258:69 435119 647195 530219 295201 08052 253:
    Rogaland89 203:24 97212 88710 00711 99214 902:-
    Vestland411 72046 781136 431115 95671 60939 7241 219--
    Møre og Romsdal275 44810 83830 24661 42976 31854 32541 025:-
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage902 42028 44577 193145 803223 788210 155111 05028 90577 081
    Nordland - Nordlánnda199 2189 31220 31139 51542 98542 4258 3419 78426 545
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku35 399:5 5123 21111 5309 0251 663-:
    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
    2021
    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 country124 55142 09032 75421 67215 3587 9153 576960226
    County
    Oslo and Viken17 9105 7064 5893 0722 3631 26662823947
    Innlandet20 7307 2205 0333 2522 3611 467894403100
    Vestfold og Telemark9 7702 9552 3491 6821 3088625079116
    Agder10 8782 9252 5822 0451 7361 021:67:
    Rogaland4 8662 0231 359755462207564-
    Vestland16 5616 0394 9833 1251 758531:12:
    Møre og Romsdal9 0043 4492 5461 5491 005373766-
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage14 3023 9573 2972 7192 2401 33660411039
    Nordland - Nordlánnda10 9453 9622 9861 9591 3155711231811
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku9 5853 8543 0301 51481028177109
    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
    2021
    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 country69 724 3122 361 3945 361 9977 703 87710 757 55110 897 04910 520 8438 347 25713 774 343
    County
    Oslo and Viken11 458 644322 713750 1851 097 9591 661 6641 765 1151 919 8131 992 6841 948 511
    Innlandet18 794 961401 829817 9671 155 8541 685 0252 044 5222 712 2973 713 2656 264 202
    Vestfold og Telemark6 365 794165 199383 378601 785924 5371 184 6211 466 145787 812852 318
    Agder5 996 726166 668427 400733 4631 221 0301 407 042:502 230:
    Rogaland1 372 648109 978221 346264 562322 800278 443148 16427 3560
    Vestland4 650 556342 591817 4131 100 0351 215 750712 229:88 577:
    Møre og Romsdal2 596 483192 058416 227545 319690 384506 335206 08340 0780
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage10 592 694223 008545 560983 0291 577 7751 846 8781 751 198940 2302 725 017
    Nordland - Nordlánnda4 454 258218 373489 674693 422907 841779 682329 047144 408891 811
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku3 441 547218 978492 848528 449550 746372 182214 244110 618953 483
    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.

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

14 September 2023

Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics

County level.

The statistics are published yearly.

Not relevant

Edited microdata are stored at 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 Act §§2-1 and 3-2

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.

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

Figures are not presented if there is a risk of identifying any respondent.

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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