Decrease in the area of notified fellings in May

Nyhet | Statistik - 11 June 2026

May saw a 33 percent decrease in the area notified or applied for felling, compared to May 2025. The area regarding applications for permits for felling in montane forests increased to approximately 4.5 times the area registered in May last year.

Experience has shown that statistics regarding notifications and applications can vary from month to month due to the forestry planning of various stakeholders. It is therefore important to be careful when analyzing the monthly data and to not draw conclusions about the planned felling.

The area of received notifications and applications for permits for felling was 15,135 hectares in May, which was 33 percent less compared to May 2025. Of this area, applications for permits for felling of montane forests represented 873 hectares, compared with 193 hectares in the same month last year.

Compared to the average area of notifications and applications for the country in May over the previous five years, this is a decrease of 26 percent.

Notifications and applications on the regional level in May

The area of notifications and applications decreased in all regions.

The largest decreases were in Southern Norrland and Götaland, with 40 and 45 percent, respectively, compared to the area for May 2025.

• Northern Norrland   –  decrease of -1,092 hectares    (-24 percent)
• Southern Norrland  –  decrease of -3,117 hectares    (-40 percent)
• Svealand                –  decrease of -1,127 hectares    (-20 percent)
• Götaland                –  decrease of -1,959 hectares    (-45 percent)

A 2 percent decrease in the area covered by notifications and applications so far this year

From January to May, the area of notifications and applications for permits for felling was 103,464 hectares, which is a decrease of 2 percent compared to the same period last year. In Northern Norrland and in Götaland the area notified and applied for has decreased by 18 and 48 percent respectively. In Southern Norrland and in Svealand the area notified and applied for has increased by 34 and 14 percent respectively. On regional level, the area has decreased in all counties except Dalarna and Gävleborg counties.

The average area of notifications and applications for the country as a whole shows an increase of 10 percent, compared to the corresponding period in the preceding five-year period.

So far this year, the area concerning applications for permits for felling of montane forests is 2,990 hectares, for the corresponding period last year the area was 2,226 hectares.

Notifications in counties affected by the storm “Johannes”

On December 27, 2025, Sweden was affected by the storm Johannes. Throughout the spring, the Swedish Forestry Agency will compare statistics regarding received notifications with average for the previous five years. So far, larger areas than normal have been notified for felling in Dalarna and Gävleborg counties, which explains the increase in Southern Norrland and Svealand.

Explanation

An increase or decrease in notifications and applications for permits for felling does not necessarily mean that the area of actual felling has increased or decreased to the same extent.

Statistics refer to total notifications for felling and applications for permission on forest land for felling in montane forest and valuable broad-leaved forest.

Please note that the monthly statistics are preliminary and will be final approximately two months after they are published.

The statistics are part of the Official statistics of Sweden.

We publish all results in our statistical database.