Ireland’s Forests - Statistics 2023
Forest Statistics is an annual compilation of statistics on the forests and the forest industry in Ireland prepared by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Read some of the highlights of the report here.
In 2022, the fourth National Forest Inventory (NFI) estimated the area of forest to be 808,848 hectares or 11.6% of the land area, excluding inland water bodies. Trees began recolonising Ireland at the end of the last glacial stage 10,000 years ago. Analysis of pollen from peat illustrates the establishment of forests that once covered 80% of the land surface. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries significant forest exploitation occurred because of the cutting of wood for use in: ships, barrel staves, and for charcoal for iron and glasswork. By the early 1700’s all but the least accessible forests had been cleared.
Leitrim is the county with the highest percentage of forest cover, 20.1%; Wicklow is second with 18.5% and Clare third at 18%. The three counties with the lowest percentage of forest cover are Louth, 2.9%, Monaghan, 4.6%, and Meath, 5.9%. Cork has the largest forest area, 92,471 ha.
Forest Area by County (NFI, 2022)
| County | Forest Area (ha) | Percent Forest Cover within County (%) |
| Carlow | 8,803 | 9.8 |
| Cavan | 19,635 | 10.1 |
| Clare | 57,447 | 18.0 |
| Cork | 92,471 | 12.4 |
| Donegal | 57,155 | 11.8 |
| Dublin | 6,011 | 6.5 |
| Galway | 63,795 | 10.4 |
| Kerry | 57,540 | 12.1 |
| Kildare | 11,196 | 6.6 |
| Kilkenny | 20,634 | 10.0 |
| Laois | 28,466 | 16.6 |
| Leitrim | 32,039 | 20.1 |
| Limerick | 28,332 | 10.5 |
| Longford | 10,355 | 9.5 |
| Louth | 2,428 | 2.9 |
| Mayo | 55,736 | 10.0 |
| Meath | 13,729 | 5.9 |
| Monaghan | 5,997 | 4.6 |
| Offaly | 33,351 | 16.7 |
| Roscommon | 31,547 | 12.4 |
| Sligo | 22,167 | 12.1 |
| Tipperary | 52,235 | 12.3 |
| Waterford | 27,351 | 14.9 |
| Westmeath | 16,759 | 9.1 |
| Wexford | 16,200 | 6.9 |
| Wicklow | 37,470 | 18.5 |
| Total | 808,848 |
Within the national forest estate there are three main forest ownership categories:
1. Public: all State owned forests, mainly Coillte
2. Private (grant-aided): private afforested land which was in receipt of either grant and/or premium since 1980
3. Private (non grant-aided): private forests not in receipt of grant-aid post 1980. Includes semi-natural forests that have regenerated naturally and other long-standing plantations on private estate holdings.
For the first time in the history of the state, there are more privately owned forests than publicly owned forests. In 2022, 49.1% of forests were in State ownership, a reduction from 50.8% in 2017.The expansion of the private sector forest cover is a result of afforestation and natural expansion of semi-natural forests.
Forest ownership in Ireland (NFI, 2022)
| Ownership | Area (ha) | % |
| Public | 397,364 | 49.1 |
| Private (grant-aided) | 288,497 | 35.7 |
| Private (non grant-aided) | 122,987 | 15.2 |
| Total | 808,848 | 100 |
The report indicates that 61.2% of the total forestry area consists of conifers such as Sitka spruce, Norway spruce and Scots pine, while broadleaves such as Oak, Beech and Ash, make up the remainder.
Species Composition of the total stocked forest area (NFI, 2022)
| Species | Area (1,000s ha) | % |
| Sitka spruce | 360.9 | 50.6 |
| Norway spruce | 27.0 | 3.8 |
| Scots pine | 8.4 | 1.2 |
| Other pine spp. | 62.8 | 8.8 |
| Douglas fir | 9.3 | 1.3 |
| Larch spp. | 23.8 | 3.3 |
| Other conifers | 2.9 | 0.4 |
| Pedunculate & sessile oak | 20.2 | 2.8 |
| Beech | 10.7 | 1.5 |
| Ash | 24.3 | 3.4 |
| Sycamore | 10.5 | 1.5 |
| Birch spp. | 58.0 | 8.1 |
| Alder spp. | 19.7 | 2.8 |
| Other short living broadleaves | 63.3 | 8.9 |
| Other long living broadleaves | 11.4 | 1.6 |
| Total | 713.2 | 100 |
The majority (70%) of Ireland’s forests consist of trees of 30 years old or less. The age structure of the national forest estate differs according to ownership: 64.4% of the public forest is aged 30 years or less, 89.3% of the Private (grant-aided) category is aged 30 years or less, and 45.3% of the Private (non grant-aided) category is aged 30years or less.
Forest age-class distribution by ownership (Source: NFI, 2022)