Forest properties, 2007

There are 109 300 personal forest owners with a productive forest area of 25 decares or more in Norway. In 2007, their accumulated entrepreneurial income from forestry was NOK 859 million. In addition, spouses of forest owners had NOK 99 million in income from forestry in the same year. In 2006, the corresponding income was NOK 784 million and NOK 88 million respectively.

In 2007, the average gross income of forest owners with entrepreneurial income from forestry was NOK 453 000. Income from forestry accounted for 7 per cent of the gross income, while other entrepreneurial income accounted for 32 per cent. Income from wages and salaries accounted for 40 per cent, and the remainder was made up of pensions and other income.

Hedmark on top

Forest owners from Hedmark county had the highest average entrepreneurial income from forestry in 2007, at NOK 57 000. However, Nord-Trøndelag county had the highest proportion of forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income, at 47 per cent. In the three northernmost counties, only a marginal share of forest owners had entrepreneurial income from forestry.

One in four forest owners are women. Women made up 16 per cent of the forest owners with positive forestry income in 2007. Their average entrepreneurial income from forestry was 12 per cent higher than for male forest owners.

Agricultural income

About one in three forest properties are combined with an agricultural holding. Forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestry had an agriculture income almost three times as large as the corresponding income from forestry. In 2007, their entrepreneurial income from agriculture was NOK 92 000 on average.

One in five had higher education

The education level of forest owners is slightly lower than in the population as a whole. While statistics on tertiary education show that one in four in the population had higher education in 2007, this only applied to one in five forest owners. The main reason for this difference is the high average age among forest owners.

Tables:

• Table 1 Average incomes, debt, gross wealth and assessed taxes for personal forest owners with positive entrepreneurial income from forestry, by county, size of productive forest area, sex and age. 2007. NOK
• Table 2 Average incomes, debt, gross wealth and assessed taxes for personal forest owners with at least 25 decares productive forest area. By county, size of productive forest area, sex and age. 2007. NOK 1000
• Table 3 Productive forest area, by where the forest area of personal forest owners are situated. Decares. 2007
• Table 4 Entrepreneurial income forestry for personal forest owners, by size of income. 2005 and 2006. NOK 1 000