The volume of timber removals from Irish forests surged by 18% in 2025 to reach a record level of 5.2 million cubic metres, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
However, the overall value of timber sales last year increased by just 1% to €238m compared with 2024.
This reflected the significant drop in timber prices in 2025.
Based on the CSO data, round wood sales in 2024 averaged €53 per cubic metre. But this figure fell to €46 per cubic metre in 2025 – a drop of 13%.
The sharp lift in harvesting activity was concentrated mainly on privately-owned forests, with the 2.95 million cubic metres removed from private forests in 2025 accounting for 57% of the total volume of timber harvested.
Increase
The volume of timber harvested from private woodlands increased by 48% in 2025 compared with 2024 and was 58% higher than the average for the five years from 2020 to 2024 inclusive.
In contrast to the surge in timber output from privately-owned forests, the volume of timber removals from publicly-owned woodlands – which are predominantly controlled by Coillte – fell by 6% in 2025, dropping to 2.25 million cubic metres.
In terms of type of forests harvested last year, the CSO information shows that coniferous round wood accounted for over 99% of removals.
The highest product share of the wood removed in 2025 was large saw logs which are used in construction. These accounted for 36% of total removals.
Small saw log accounted for a further 28% of removals, with pulpwood at 24%. Stake wood made up a further 6% of the total, with fuel wood on 4.5% and round wood for biomass on 1.5%.
The jump in timber harvesting came on the back of the devastation wrought by storms Éowyn and Darragh during the winter of 2024/2025, when close to 27,000 hectares of forestry were levelled or seriously damaged.
SHARING OPTIONS