2019

Forest Product Export Continues to Grow

With 52% of its territory covered by forests, Latvia is among the most forested countries in Europe. The forest sector has historically been one of the most important sectors of the country's economy. Latvia exported forest products worth EUR 1.78 billion in the first eight months this year, which is an increase of 1.1% as compared to the corresponding period of 2018.

Timber and timber products were exported in the amount of EUR 1.53 billion in the first eight months of 2019. It is 1% (of the total volume of forest sector exports) more than in the previous year.

 Exports of forest products in 2000-2018 (billion EUR)

Such exports were achieved throughout 2013, with annual felling volumes remaining broadly unchanged. This confirms that the Latvian forest sector is increasingly producing goods with higher added value. The growth of the woodworking industry is based on the expansion of export opportunities based on both innovative solutions and technological upgrade, as well as resource efficiency and the full life cycle of raw materials. Technological capabilities and production capacities of the timber industry are constantly increased and improved. Many primary processing plants have processing technologies that effectively use sawdust to produce energy wood. Partial downstream wood processing is increasingly carried out by primary processing plants and products of primary wood processing (sawn timber and roundwood) are more often converted into higher value-added products.