December 2014: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) released a Forest Finance Working Paper on the contribution of the forestry sector to employment, value-added, and export earnings at global, regional and national levels. Overall, the report states that in 2011, the global export of forest products reached about US$421 billion.

The report, ‘Contribution of the Forestry Sector to National Economies, 1990-2011,’ also finds that in 2011, direct employment in the formal forestry sector accounted for 0.4% of the global labor force while the contribution of the sector to global gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at 0.9%. Overall, the report notes that Europe, Northern America and developed countries within Asia and the Pacific account for 60% of forest product exports, generate almost a quarter of all employment in the sector and are responsible for about half of the value-added.

The analysis of trends between 2000 and 2011 reveal a decline across metrics, although some regions and products were able to sustain production and earning levels. For example, developing countries actually experienced increases in forest sector employment over the study period while forest product exports from Eastern Europe grew during the assessment period. Likewise, pulp and paper industries were able to retain their value during the financial crisis while wood and furniture sectors experienced significant drops.

The report made use of data covering 90% of global forest production and estimated data for remaining areas. Data limitations citied in the report include a general lack of reporting on forest sector employment. Furthermore, as the report excludes the informal forest sector, it is expected that the actual contribution of forests to national economies is much higher, especially in developing countries. [Publication: Contribution of the Forestry Sector to National Economies, 1990-2011]