## Forestry Statistics 2020 Chapter 7: Employment & Businesses

Release date: 
24 September 2020 
Coverage: 
United Kingdom Geographical breakdown: 
None 

## 

Issued by:  
Forest Research 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AT 
Enquiries:    
Robert Stagg 0300 067 5238 statistics@forestresearch.gov.uk  
Statistician: 
Sheila Ward 0300 067 5236 
Website:    
www.forestresearch.gov.uk/statistics/ 

## Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................ 3 Key findings ........................................................................................ 4 
7.1 Employment: Annual Business Survey (ABS) 
...................................... 5 
7.2 Employment in primary wood processing ........................................... 6 
7.3 Health & safety 
............................................................................... 7 
7.4 Establishments in the primary wood processing industries .................. 
10 
7.5 VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses ............................................ 
11 

## Introduction

This chapter contains information on: 

- employment in forestry and wood processing; - health & safety; and - numbers of businesses.  
All of the statistics presented in this chapter relate to UK totals. Further information on the data sources and methodology used to compile the figures is provided in the Sources chapter. Most of the statistics presented in this chapter have been previously released. Some of the figures in this chapter have been revised since Forestry Statistics 2019. For further details on revisions, see the Employment section of the Sources chapter. A copy of all Employment & Businesses tables can be accessed in spreadsheet format from the Data Downloads web page at www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/data-downloads/. 

## Key Findings

The main findings are: 

- The Annual Business Survey (May 2020) reported average employment1 
in 2018 of 16 thousand in forestry, 10 thousand in sawmilling and 6 thousand in panel mills. 
- There was estimated to be a total of 7.3 thousand full time equivalent 
staff employed1 by primary wood processors in the UK in 2019, a 4% decrease from the total for 2018. 
- Accident rates in forestry and wood products have tended to decline in 
recent years but are still higher than the averages in agriculture and manufacturing respectively.  
- There were 204 establishments in the primary wood processing 
industries in the UK using UK-grown roundwood in 2019. 

## 7.1 Employment: Annual Business Survey (Abs)

The Annual Business Survey (ABS), carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), includes statistics on employment broken down by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007). In wood processing, SIC 16 (wood products) and SIC 17 (pulp, paper and paper products) have a much wider scope than the data on employment in primary wood processing (Table 7.2a), as they include primary processing of imported material and also some secondary processing. The latest ABS survey was published in May 2020 and includes data to 2018. It recorded average employment in 2018 of 16 thousand in forestry, 10 thousand in sawmilling and 6 thousand in panel mills (Table 7.1). 

thousands 
Standard Industrial Classification 
(SIC)1 
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 
Forestry 
16 
17 
17 
16 
16 
Wood products 

    Sawmilling 
9 
8 
9 
9 
10 
     Panels 
5 
5 
5 
5 
6 
     Secondary products 
65 
56 
67 
60 
73 
     Total 
79 
69 
81 
74 
89 
Pulp, paper & paper products 
57 
56 
56 
55 
62 

 
Source: Annual Business Survey - average employment in year (Office for National Statistics, May 2020) Notes: 

1. Categories are based on the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) categories. 
Further details on the SIC codes used are provided in the Sources: Employment and businesses page. 
2. Excludes other wood-using industries. 3. Pulp, paper & paper products breakdowns for all years have been suppressed in the figures 
released by ONS. Data produced by the Confederation of Paper Industries, presenting estimates on a different basis are provided in table 7.2b.  

## 7.2 Employment In Primary Wood Processing

Information on employment in primary wood processing is obtained annually via the sources used to collect data on UK-grown timber (presented in Chapter 2). There was estimated to be a total of 7.3 thousand full time equivalent staff employed by primary wood processors in the UK in 2019 (Table 7.2a), a 4% decrease from the total for 2018. Over one half (57%) of the total employment in 2019 worked in sawmills and over one quarter (29%) worked in wood-based panel mills. 

full-time equivalents 
Wood-based 
Year 
Sawmills 
Pulp & 
paper 
panels 
Fencing 
Total 
2015 
4,310 
702 
2,100 
361 
7,474 
2016 
4,434 
697 
2,250 
388 
7,769 
2017 
4,577 
700 
2,110 
405 
7,792 
2018 
4,310 
693 
2,175 
399 
7,577 
2019 
4,118 
663 
2,075 
397 
7,253 

 
Source: industry surveys, industry associations. Notes: 

1. Some businesses operate sawmills and round fencing mills. Employment for such 
businesses may be recorded under sawmills, round fencing manufacturers or shared 
between the two categories. 
 Table 7.2b presents the estimated total number of direct employees at all UK paper and board mills. Direct employment fell by 13% from 2014 to 2015, and has fluctuated between 7.8 thousand and 8.0 thousand since then. 

number of employees 
 
2014 
2015 
2016 
2017 
2018  2019 
Direct employees 
9,170 
7,970 
7,911 
7,849 
7,939 
7,860 

 
Source: Confederation of Paper Industries. Notes: 
1. Figures exclude contractors, self-employed and employees at ancillary sites. 
2. Covers all mills producing paper in the UK. This differs from the employment data in table 
7.2a, which is restricted to mills using UK grown roundwood. 

## 7.3 Health & Safety

Accidents involving absence from work of at least seven days are required to be reported to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). Prior to this time, reporting was required for absences of at least three days. The latest major accident rates for Great Britain, covering 2018-19, show levels similar to 2017-18 rates for both forestry and the wood products sector. Over the longer term, the rates for both sectors have generally declined, but they continue to remain higher than the averages in agriculture and manufacturing respectively (Table 7.3 and Figure 7.1). 


| Major               | Total      |
|---------------------|------------|
| Standard            | Total      |
| Number of           | accident   |
| 4                   |            |
|                     | reported   |
| Industrial          | number of  |
| major               | rate rate/ |
| Classification      | reported   |
| accidents           |            |
| 4                   |            |
|                     | 1000       |
| (SIC)               |            |
| 2                   |            |
|                     | accidents  |
| employees           |            |
| Forestry            |            |
| 2014-15             |            |
| 2015-16             |            |
| 2016-17             |            |
| 2017-18             |            |
| 2018-19 provisional |            |
| Wood products       |            |
|                     |            |
| 2014-15             |            |
| 2015-16             |            |
| 2016-17             |            |
| 2017-18             |            |
| 2018-19 provisional |            |
|                     |            |
| Pulp, paper &       |            |
| paper products      |            |
| 2014-15             |            |
| 2015-16             |            |
| 2016-17             |            |
| 2017-18             |            |
| 2018-19 provisional |            |

 
Source: Health & Safety Executive. Notes: 
1. Employees only; excludes self-employed. 2. Categories are based on the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) categories. 

Further details on the SIC codes used are provided in the Sources: Employment and businesses page. 
3. Excludes other wood-using industries. 4. Major accidents include fatal accidents, which averaged below 1 per year for forestry and 1 
per year for wood processing.  There were no fatal accidents in the period shown for pulp, paper and paper products. 


Source: Health & Safety Executive. Notes: 
1. Employees only; excludes self-employed. 2. Categories are based on the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) categories. 
Further details on the SIC codes used are provided in the Sources: Employment and businesses page. 
3. As a result of a change in reporting requirements, data from 2012-13 is not directly 
comparable with previous years. 

## 7.4 Establishments In The Primary Wood Processing Industries

Table 7.4 shows the number of primary wood processors, according to the sampling frames used for Forest Research surveys of establishments using UK timber. The figures in Table 7.4 do not correspond with the VAT and PAYE registration information given in Table 7.5.  The figures here count establishments (sites) rather than businesses and include those that do not need to register for VAT or PAYE.  They also have a different basis for classification, so some businesses that are excluded from Table 7.5 because of their VAT/PAYE classification are included in this table (typically businesses where primary wood processing is a small part of their total activity), and some businesses included in Table 7.5 are excluded here (usually because they do not use UK-grown timber). The number of establishments in the primary wood processing industries using UK-grown roundwood has reduced from 261 in 2010 to 204 in 2019, a 22% decrease. 

| Wood-based    | Round fencing    |
|---------------|------------------|
| Year          | Sawmills         |
| Pulp &        |                  |
| paper mills   | panel mills      |
| Total         |                  |
| 1             |                  |
|               |                  |
| 2010          | 188              |
| 2011          | 184              |
| 2012          | 180              |
| 2013          | 175              |
| 2014          | 173              |
| 2015          | 171              |
| 2016          | 166              |
| 2017          | 163              |
| 2018          | 155              |
| 2019          | 150              |

 
Source: industry surveys, industry associations Notes: 
1. A single mill may be recorded twice, as a sawmill and a round fencing manufacturer. 


## 7.5 Vat And/Or Paye Registered Businesses

Table 7.5 shows the number of VAT and/or PAYE registered businesses classified under forestry and primary wood processing. The headings shown potentially include businesses not traditionally regarded as forestry or primary wood processing, and some businesses traditionally included in forestry and primary wood processing are excluded as they are classified to other headings of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). A total of 4,185 forestry businesses, 530 sawmilling businesses, 125 woodbased panel businesses and 230 pulp & paper businesses were registered for VAT and/or PAYE purposes in the UK in 2019. There has been an overall increase in forestry businesses over the last ten years, whilst sawmilling and pulp and paper businesses have declined. 

|   Year  | Forestry    |   Sawmilling  |   Panels  |   Pulp & paper  |
|---------|-------------|---------------|-----------|-----------------|
|   2010  | 3,095       |          640  |      135  |            255  |
|   2011  | 3,170       |          605  |      135  |            250  |
|   2012  | 3,375       |          585  |      135  |            255  |
|   2013  | 3,505       |          560  |      130  |            240  |
|   2014  | 3,685       |          555  |      130  |            230  |
|   2015  | 3,925       |          555  |      125  |            230  |
|   2016  | 4,050       |          550  |      125  |            225  |
|   2017  | 4,060       |          540  |      120  |            240  |
|   2018  | 4,150       |          540  |      130  |            240  |
|   2019  | 4,185       |          530  |      125  |            230  |

 
Source: UK Business: Activity, Size and Location: 2019 (Office for National Statistics, October 2019). Notes: 
1. All figures are rounded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to the nearest multiple of 

5. 
2. Categories are based on the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) categories. 
Further details on the SIC codes used are provided in the Sources: Employment and businesses page.