Eurostat (2011) reports that wood is still the main source of
income for the European forest owners and that about 65% of the
forestlands in the EU are privately owned. The EU-28 is the second-largest
producer of industrial round timber after the United States
and it produces approximately 80% of the world’s cork .
There has been a steady rise of round wood production in
the European Union 27 between 1995 and 2007, both for coniferous
(softwood) and non-coniferous (broadleaved or hardwood)
species . The recent financial and economic crisis
led to a decreasing level of roundwood production during 2008
and 2009. Regaining strength in 2010, Europe’s roundwood production
returned to its pre-crisis growth trend with a 9.5% year on
year growth rate and a total production of 420 million m3. In 2013
the roundwood production totalled 435 million m3 (3.5% growth
rate). The Member States’ Land-Use, Land-Use
Change and Forestry activities project an increase
of harvest rates by around 30% by 2020 as compared to 2010.