Decrease in delivered seedlings in 2024

Nyhet | Statistik - 20 May 2025

A total of 405 million seedlings were delivered in 2024, which is a decrease of 26 million (6 percent) compared to 2023. The proportion of delivered seedlings of Scots pine was 54 percent while the proportion of Norway spruce was 41 percent. The proportion of delivered seedlings of other tree species was 5 percent.

The number of Scots pine seedlings has increased steadily since 2013. In 2024 the number of delivered seedlings of Scots pine was 219 million, which was a decrease of 17 million seedlings, compared to 2023. The number of delivered Norway spruce seedlings was 166 million in 2024, which is a decreased of 10 million, compared to 2023.

Together, Norway spruce and Scots pine seedlings account for 96 percent of the total number of forest seedlings delivered. Lodgepole pine seedlings represented 2.1 percent and larch 1.0 percent. Sitka spruce, birch and seedlings of other conifers and broadleaf species each make up less than 1.0 percent of the number of forest seedlings delivered.

Production method

Container-rooted seedlings are the dominant method of production for coniferous species. Scots pine and lodgepole pine are almost entirely produced as container-rooted seedlings. The proportion of Norway spruce seedlings produced as container-rooted in 2024 was 80 percent. For Larch, seedlings proportion was 50 percent, which is an increase compared to 2023 (41 percent). All Sitka spruce and most other coniferous species and other broadleaf tree species were produced as bare-rooted seedlings in 2024. Just over 4 percent of the coniferous seedlings were produced as transplanted container-rooted seedlings in 2024.

Propagation method

Seed propagation was the dominant method of propagation of coniferous seedlings in 2024. Vegetative propagation was mainly used for broadleaf seedlings other than birch.

Protection method

In 2024 the proportion of Norway spruce, Scots pine and lodgepole pine seedlings with protection against insects was 72, 46 and 22 percent respectively. The proportion of coniferous seedlings delivered with some sort of protection against insects (mechanical) has increased steadily, from 27 percent in 2016 to 54 percent in 2024. During the same period, the proportion of insecticide-treated seedlings has decreased from 18 to 2 percent while the proportion of plants without treatment has decreased from 55 percent in 2016 to 44 percent in 2024.

Origin

In 2024, 88 percent of delivered forest seedlings originating from seed orchards in Sweden, the same proportion as in 2023. Seedlings of Scots pine and Lodgepole pine almost solely originate from Swedish seed-orchards. The proportion of Norway spruce seedlings originating from Swedish seed-orchards was 82 percent, which is unchanged compared to 2023.

Forest seedlings imported to Sweden for forest sowing

During 2023 just over 50,5 million seedlings were imported to Sweden from other countries. This means that 12 percent of delivered seedlings in 2023 (out of 431 million seedlings in total) had at least partly been produced outside Sweden. (It is uncertain whether the plants were delivered the same year they were imported).

The statistics refer to seedlings and seeds for use in Sweden.

Explanation

• Container-rooted seedlings – the roots are surrounded by a substrate cluster that usually consists of peat.
• Transplanted container-rooted seedlings – container-rooted seedlings which are transplanted as bare-rooted seedlings.
• Bare-rooted seedlings – seedlings without accompanying cultivation substrate (soil or peat) around the roots.

The survey is part of the Official Statistics of Sweden