Ukraine exported more than 1.42 million tons of wood and wood products for the first five months of 2025 (US $671.8 million)—an increase of 87,400 tons over the previous year (US $593.6 million)—as the war-torn country looks to forest exports to kickstart its economic recovery.
That is according to available figures provided by the State Forest Resource Agency of Ukraine, which reveals that pine accounted for more than 68.6% of trade, followed by spruce (19%) and oak (6.6%). It comes weeks after the European Commission determined that large volumes of timber furniture entering the European Union from Ukraine were classified as “low risk” under the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) country classification scheme.
Last year, Wood Central reported that Ukraine – now Europe’s second-largest timber furniture import market behind China – is scaling up logging and timber production to revive its war-torn economy. Through Resolution No. 454, the Zelenskyy administration is looking to ramp up timber processing in the controlled west over the next few years. And whilst timber processing made up just 1.2% of its GDP in the years leading up to the invasion: “That all changed when the invasion started, with the Government declaring its intention to increase logging in controlled territory,” said Yehor Hrynyk, Andrii Biletskyi, Amanda Cabrejo le Roux, co-authors of a Basel Institute of Governance Report published in 2023.
What happened to Ukraine’s timber when Russia’s invasion started?
Whilst forestry – including furniture and wood processing – made a small portion of the country’s GDP, in some areas, including the Carpathians and Poltava, Ukraine’s forest industry is the primary source of income for many local communities. But that all changed when the invasion started, “with the Ukrainian Government declaring its intention to increase the amount of logging in controlled territory,” according to Yehor Hrynyk, Andrii Biletskyi, and Amanda Cabrejo le Roux, the authors of the Basel Institute of Governance report.
“This also responds to the increase in demand for firewood following the destruction of energy infrastructure and the need for additional revenues due to the difficult economic situation,” they said, adding that Ukrainian exporters increasingly rely on the EU to sell forest products. “And considering that the EU is tightening its transparency and sustainability requirements for forestry products (as a result of the EUDR) and that the EU makes up most of Ukraine’s wood products exports, reforms are increasingly urgent to ensure this vital market remains accessible.”
