Average age for new forest owners is 47 years old according to new figures from the Swedish Forest Agency

Nyhet | Statistik - 30 May 2023

There are approximately 10,000 new natural persons who own forests each year during the period 2004-2022. These are on average 47 years old and the gender distribution among these new forest owners is 47 percent women and 53 percent men. Furthermore, the trend continues with fewer forest owners and management units when compared to the previous year. This is shown by the Swedish Forestry Agency's latest ownership statistics.

New forest owners

New figures from the Swedish Forest Agency show that there were 10,554 new forest owners, that is to say individuals who were not already registered forest owners, in 2022 compared to the previous year. Of these, 47 percent were women and 53 percent men. The most common counties for these new owners were the counties of Västra Götaland and Stockholm with 1,478 and 1,270 new forest owners respectively. The average age for new forest owners was 47 year old, with the average for men 46, and for women 48. The highest average age for new forest owners was in the county of Stockholm, with an average age of 51, and the lowest was in the county of Kronoberg, with an average age of 44.

Continued trend of a falling number of forest owners and management units

The number of management units decreased with 397 units, or 0.2 percent. At the same time the number of forest owners (natural persons) reduced with 730 individuals, or 0.2 percent, between the property assessments of 2021 and 2022. Another trend is the increase in owners that are resident outside of Sweden. This has increased again, following a slight decrease in 2021. Forest owners who are resident in EU/EES excluding Norway increased with 247 individuals between 2021 and 2022.

Explanation

Newly added forest owners refer to natural persons added in 2022 compared to 2021year's assessment