Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Forest owners' income
The statistics provide an overview of personal forest owners income, debt and wealth.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Numbers of forest owners and average entrepreneurial income from forestry. Comprises personal forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestryDownload table as ...Numbers of forest owners and average entrepreneurial income from forestry. Comprises personal forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestry1
2024 2023 - 2024 Number of owners NOK Change in entrepreneurial income, per cent Total 17 291 88 000 17.3 Productive forest area 25-99 decares 1 332 32 000 6.7 100-249 decares 2 901 44 000 15.8 250-499 decares 3 552 55 000 27.9 500-999 decares 3 983 71 000 20.3 1 000-1 999 decares 3 067 98 000 12.6 2 000-4 999 decares 1 847 156 000 13.0 5 000-19 999 decares 551 390 000 11.1 20 000 decares or more 58 1 262 000 13.2 1The statistics are based on data from tax statistics for personal taxpayers. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Average incomes, debt, gross wealth and assessed taxes for personal forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestry. NOKDownload table as ...Average incomes, debt, gross wealth and assessed taxes for personal forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestry. NOK1
Forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestry Gross income2 Debt Taxable gross wealth Assessed tax Personal income, salaries and pensions Personal income, salaries Total entreprenurial income Of this entrepreneurial income forestry Other income 2024 The whole country 17 291 1 122 000 2 852 000 7 101 000 290 000 494 000 390 000 469 000 88 000 158 000 County Østfold 1 412 1 193 000 3 610 000 7 517 000 298 000 529 000 422 000 501 000 83 000 164 000 Oslo and Akershus 1 674 1 492 000 3 527 000 15 453 000 482 000 627 000 488 000 504 000 103 000 361 000 Buskerud 1 516 1 197 000 2 386 000 7 933 000 334 000 528 000 416 000 452 000 129 000 218 000 Innlandet 4 428 1 152 000 3 185 000 6 710 000 287 000 449 000 349 000 543 000 127 000 159 000 Vestfold 758 1 141 000 3 059 000 7 135 000 291 000 526 000 429 000 466 000 69 000 150 000 Agder 1 148 927 000 1 928 000 6 058 000 238 000 504 000 390 000 302 000 70 000 120 000 Rogaland 358 1 134 000 2 778 000 6 819 000 287 000 494 000 410 000 508 000 43 000 133 000 Vestland 1 220 983 000 1 730 000 5 034 000 248 000 496 000 394 000 370 000 44 000 118 000 Møre og Romsdal 586 898 000 2 535 000 4 403 000 202 000 438 000 343 000 403 000 51 000 56 000 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 2 962 1 002 000 3 071 000 4 731 000 226 000 447 000 366 000 482 000 48 000 73 000 Nordland - Nordlánnda 267 1 005 000 2 762 000 6 030 000 229 000 367 000 262 000 534 000 61 000 105 000 Troms - Romsa - Tromssa : : : : : : : : : : Finnmark - Finnmárku - Finmarkku : : : : : : : : : : Productive forest area 25-99 decares 1 332 1 020 000 2 493 000 5 058 000 248 000 496 000 386 000 410 000 32 000 113 000 100-249 decares 2 901 1 039 000 2 476 000 5 542 000 261 000 492 000 383 000 427 000 44 000 121 000 250-499 decares 3 552 1 054 000 2 690 000 5 641 000 259 000 486 000 387 000 443 000 55 000 125 000 500-999 decares 3 983 1 054 000 2 703 000 5 946 000 261 000 479 000 377 000 461 000 71 000 114 000 1 000-1 999 decares 3 067 1 131 000 2 697 000 7 687 000 297 000 502 000 395 000 455 000 98 000 175 000 2 000-4 999 decares 1 847 1 248 000 3 264 000 10 950 000 356 000 519 000 411 000 514 000 156 000 216 000 5 000-19 999 decares 551 1 641 000 5 396 000 15 825 000 482 000 525 000 421 000 759 000 390 000 357 000 20 000 decares or more 58 6 944 000 20 803 000 64 246 000 2 389 000 756 000 695 000 2 678 000 1 262 000 3 510 000 1The statistics are based on data from tax statistics for personal taxpayers. 2Gross income is total taxable wages, salaries, pensions, entreprenurial income and property income.] Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Incomes, debt, gross wealth and assessed taxes for personal forest owners with at least 25 decares productive forest area. NOK millionDownload table as ...Incomes, debt, gross wealth and assessed taxes for personal forest owners with at least 25 decares productive forest area. NOK million
Number of forest owners Gross income1 Debt Taxable gross wealth Assessed tax Personal income, salaries and pensions Personal income, salaries Total entreprenurial income Of this entrepreneurial income forestry Other income 2024 In total 116 658 103 126 177 812 702 132 28 054 67 554 45 598 18 191 1 524 17 380 County Østfold 4 575 4 548 10 539 39 096 1 362 2 606 1 898 1 097 117 846 Oslo and Akershus 10 153 13 159 22 558 145 070 4 437 7 279 4 955 1 766 173 4 114 Buskerud 6 321 6 241 9 917 42 916 1 729 3 716 2 654 1 212 196 1 313 Innlandet 17 038 14 502 29 692 78 414 3 559 8 710 5 985 3 710 560 2 082 Vestfold 3 412 3 535 7 477 23 650 968 2 101 1 531 717 53 717 Telemark 5 428 4 649 6 281 27 310 1 259 3 314 2 299 598 87 737 Agder 9 470 7 797 11 756 49 618 2 081 5 602 3 765 840 80 1 356 Rogaland 5 596 5 724 10 635 37 963 1 582 3 466 2 422 1 300 15 958 Vestland 15 992 13 497 18 418 84 035 3 689 9 552 6 458 1 871 53 2 074 Møre og Romsdal 8 092 6 472 9 922 34 728 1 664 4 629 3 106 969 30 874 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 13 396 11 298 24 885 67 192 2 830 7 353 5 320 2 733 141 1 213 Nordland - Nordlánnda 8 963 6 170 8 940 40 264 1 541 4 724 2 643 847 16 599 Troms - Romsa - Tromssa 7 713 5 150 6 094 29 280 1 264 4 218 2 379 : : 455 Finnmark - Finnmárku - Finmarkku 509 382 698 2 596 90 284 182 : : 42 Productive forest area 25-99 decares 39 223 31 686 47 883 212 596 8 657 23 285 14 819 3 395 42 5 006 100-249 decares 30 487 25 537 40 871 156 200 6 748 17 741 11 834 3 866 127 3 930 250-499 decares 20 338 17 963 31 386 103 124 4 666 11 657 8 075 3 471 196 2 834 500-999 decares 14 662 13 649 26 060 95 475 3 670 8 127 5 813 3 322 282 2 200 1 000-1 999 decares 7 640 7 889 16 158 69 518 2 278 4 280 3 177 2 179 299 1 429 2 000-4 999 decares 3 439 4 311 9 755 39 168 1 285 1 970 1 501 1 260 289 1 082 5 000-19 999 decares 790 1 573 4 228 19 467 563 438 331 513 215 623 20 000 decares or more 79 517 1 471 6 584 187 55 49 185 73 277 1Gross income is total taxable wages, salaries, pensions, entreprenurial income and property income.] Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Entrepreneurial income forestry for personal forest owners, by size of incomeDownload table as ...Entrepreneurial income forestry for personal forest owners, by size of income1
2023 2024 Entrepreneurial income forestry. NOK million Forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income Entrepreneurial income forestry. NOK million Forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income Total 1 324 17 638 1 524 17 291 Entrepreneurial income forestry 1 - 49 000 NOK 186 12 338 192 11 331 50 000 - 99 999 NOK 168 2 342 178 2 498 100 000 - 249 000 NOK 296 1 932 342 2 193 250 000 - 499 999 219 635 267 783 500 000 - 999 999 NOK 176 257 221 325 1 000 000 NOK or more 279 134 323 161 1The statistics are based on data from tax statistics for personal taxpayers. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 12 March 2026.
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.
Gross income
Total wages and salaries pesnsins, entrepreneurial income and proeprty income.
Personal wages and salaries
Comprise payments in cash and in kind, taxable sick pay and unemployment benefit.
Pensions
Cover all benefit paid by social security and private pension and life insurance benefit.
Entrepreneurial income
A result of activities of a self-employed person, and is estimated from profit and loss account and balance sheet. The entrepreneurial income is transferred to the tax return and is included in the calculation of ordinary income.
Entrepreneurial income from agriculture
This is positive entrepreneurial income from agriculture according to tax return. Including 2011, entrepreneurial social security benefits in agriculture,forestry and fishery are included. As from 2012 social security benefits from primary industry are include in total entreprenurial income. Deductions such as membership payments to industry organisations, the year's entrepreneurial deficit, interest on debt and a separate agricultural deduction are not deducted.
Entreprenurial income from forestry
This is positive entrepreneurial income from forestry according to tax return. In addition, entrepreneurial income from forestry also comprises sickness benefit for persons without entreprenurail income in agriculture and fisheries.
Other income
Consist mainly of interest income, dividends, realised capital gains, rent and other income from property.
Name: Forest owners' income
Topic: Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing
Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics
County.
The statistics are published annually. Usually it takes approximatley 70 weeks from the end of the year until the figures are published.
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 the statistics is to provide an overview of personal forest owners income, dept and property. The statistics also provide information on age, sex, income and education of forest owners.
Statistics on forest owners income based on sample surveys were published in the 1990's and after The sample survey of forestry 2004.
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 statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.
Statistics on the farmers' income and property are provided yearly. These statistics comprise natural persons operating agricultural holdings.
Statistics Norway also presents income statistics for all self-employed persons .
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).
Including 2010, the statistics built on properties in the Farm Register of the Norwegian Agricultural Authority with personal owner and at least 25 decares of productive forest area. Information about the owners came from the Land Register/Cadastre owned by The Norwegian Mapping Authority.
As from 2011, the number of forest properties and productive forest area are based on new cartographic data analysis and data on owners and properties from the cadastre (Land Register) in combination with data from the Farm Register.
In the statistics on personal forest owners, the forest owners' productive forest areas in Norway are aggregated, independent of municipality borders. Statistics on incomes are based on the forest owners' municipality for tax purposes. Other individual statistics on personal forest owners are based on the municipality where the forest owners live.
Statistics on average incomes, debt, gross property and assessed taxes are published for personal forest owners with positive self-employment income from forestry. Married couples and registered partners / cohabitants who jointly operate the forest property, may share the taxable entrepreneurial income. Statistics are therefor also made on average incomes, debt, gross property and assessed taxes for forest owners and their spouses, registered partners and cohabitants.
The statistics are derived from existing administrative data files.
The Farm Register of the Norwegian Agricultural Authority served until 2010 as the backbone of the statistics and information about the owners came from the Land register. As from 2011, the number of forest properties and productive forest area are based on new cartographic data analysis and data on owners and properties from the Cadastre in combination with data from the Farm Register.
More information about the personal forest owners comes from the Central Population Register, the Register on Personal Tax Returns and the Register on Tax Assessment for Personal Taxpayers.
The statistics are derived from the whole population of personal forest owners.
The statistics are based on existing administrative registers and are based on linked data files that were edited separately when established. Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data., and there are not any editing on the linked data.
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.
To ensure confidentiality, the suppression method is used in these statistics.
In the period 2007-2010, the Farm register has been updated and improved. The improvement has resulted in 3 000-4 000 more forest properties.
As from 2011, the number of forest properties and productive forest area are based on new cartographic data analysis and data on owners and properties from the cadastre (Land Register) in combination with data from the Farm Register. This resultet in more than 10 000 new forest properties. Most of them have had minor forestry activity.
Statistics on the forest owners' income based on sample surveys were published in the 1990's and in the Sample survey of forestry 2004. As from 2005, statistics on the forest owners' income based on registers have been published annaully.
The most important source of error is that taxpayers may fill in incorrect information on income, deductions, property or debt in the personal tax return or place amounts under wrong items. In most cases this will be detected and corrected by the local tax offices. Nevertheless, errors that do not influence the assessment of taxes may be ignored. Furthermore, errors may also originate during the scanning of the tax return forms, despite of the fact that controls are executed.
Another concern is the quality of the registers. The productive forest area of properties or the property borders are sometimes missing or erroneous. Furthermore, errors may arise when data are entered into the various administrative registers.
With regard to co-operative ownership, the statistics on forest owners comprise only the reference owner. Self-employment income from forestry for the remaining personal owners in the co-operative is not included. Analysis from 2011 show that entrepreneurial income from forests for these owners were approximately 0,4 per cent of the total entrepreneural income from forestry. In total, 3-4 per cent of the self-employment income from forestry is missing.
In reality, the number of personal forest owners with entrepreneurial income from forestry is higher than in these statistics show, because only the reference owner in a co-ownership is included here. Some personal forest owners are deceased and no new owner has been registered, some live abroad or information is missing for other reasons. These owners amount to 3-4 per cent of the personal forest owners and are excluded from the statistics on incomes.