Forestry Statistics 2011 - Employment & Businesses

The Annual Business Survey (ABS), formerly the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) includes statistics on employment broken down by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2003/2007).  In wood processing, SIC 20/16 (wood products) and SIC 21/17 (pulp and paper) have a much wider scope than the data on employment in primary wood processing (table 7.2) and the Forest Employment Survey (tables 7.3 to 7.5), as they include primary processing of imported material and also some secondary processing.  Forestry within the SIC classification has a narrower scope than in the Forest Employment Survey, as it does not include activities like timber haulage and government administration.

The Annual Business Survey recorded average employment in 2009 of 14 thousand in forestry and 26 thousand in primary wood processing (sawmilling, panels and pulp & paper).

Source: Annual Business Survey/ Annual Business Inquiry - average employment in year (Office for National Statistics, June 2009 and June 2011)

Notes:

1.  Categories are based on the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) categories.  2005-2007 data are based on SIC 2003; data for 2008 on are based on SIC 2007.  Given the change in classifications, figures for 2008 and 2009 may not be consistent with those for previous years.  Further details on the SIC codes used are provided in the Sources: Employment and businesses page.

2.  Excludes other wood-using industries.

3. Pulp and paper figures for 2009 are unavailable from the Annual Business Survey.  The figures shown here are estimated from the 2008 figures.