Forestry Market 2026
The State of the Forestry Market in 2026
The UK forestry sector heads into the second half of 2026 in a steadier position than it’s seen in a couple of years — even if growth remains modest and uneven across the country.
A market finding its footing
After a subdued 2025, commercial forestry has settled into calmer waters. Total UK forestry sales reached £304.4 million over the 2025 forest year, though that figure was skewed heavily by a handful of large portfolio deals — strip those out, and the underlying market sat closer to £150 million, broadly in line with the ten-year average. Land values pulled back too, with the average price per hectare dropping around 15% to roughly £15,500, a correction from the highs of 2022 rather than a sign of falling demand. Overall transaction volumes told a more encouraging story: 18,100 hectares of woodland changed hands in 2025, comfortably above the decade average.
Scotland remains the epicentre of the market, accounting for the vast majority of commercial forestry deals, while activity in England and Wales stayed relatively limited.
Industry analysts expect this steadier footing to continue through 2026, with revenue for the wider Forestry & Logging industry forecast to edge up slightly to around £1.8–1.9 billion. Timber prices, which spiked in 2022–23, have largely stabilised, and input costs like seeds and pesticides are normalising too — both supportive for margins even as downstream demand from construction stays soft.
Why interest keeps growing despite the caution
More landowners and farmers are turning to woodland as a way to diversify income amid pressure elsewhere in agriculture. Forestry’s appeal as a long-term asset class hasn’t gone away — carbon credits, biodiversity markets, agroforestry and renewable energy are all being talked about as future income streams, even if many of these are still early-stage and slow to monetise. Investors are watching closely, but a fair amount of capital has stayed on the sidelines this year, waiting for clearer signals before committing.
The bigger story: not enough people to do the work
If there’s one theme defining forestry in 2026, it’s the workforce gap. The sector needs a significant expansion in skilled workers to meet tree-planting and climate targets, and training pipelines haven’t kept pace. The upside for jobseekers is real: reports of students being offered full-time roles before finishing their degrees aren’t exaggeration — demand for qualified foresters, machine operators, and land managers is outpacing supply in many parts of the UK.
Government funding has been directed at closing this gap, including new apprenticeship routes and skills programmes, and universities are actively working to widen who considers forestry as a career, beyond the traditional image of the industry.
What this means if you’re hiring or job-hunting
For employers, this is a candidate’s market for many roles — expect more competition for skilled hires, and consider how apprenticeships or training routes could widen your talent pool.
For jobseekers, especially those newer to the sector, this is a genuinely good window to get in. Roles range from hands-on forestry and machine operation through to forest management, conservation, and policy work — and the sector is short-staffed enough that a relevant qualification or willingness to train can open doors quickly.
Sources: Savills UK Forestry Market Spotlight (March 2026), Forestry Journal, IBISWorld UK Forestry & Logging Industry Report (2026), Institute of Chartered Foresters.