2009 Census

During the second half of 2009 FITEC completed a survey of the New Zealand forestry and wood manufacturing sectors (excluding biosecurity and furniture). This was the most comprehensive survey carried out to date on the forest products industry in New Zealand.

831 companies were identified and surveyed. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that employee numbers have dropped in recent years and this is certainly confirmed within the wood manufacturing sector which had contracted by an average of 10% (approx 1200 employees) from previous forecasts. Forestry figures are more variable compared to previous statistics, probably reflecting the contracting nature of the business and the inherent fluctuations.

The industry employs a total of 18,730 staff; 37% of whom work in the forestry sector and 63% in the wood manufacturing sector. The vast majority of employees are found in harvesting and silviculture (76% of forestry employees) and in solid wood processing and remanufacturing (66% of wood manufacturing employees).

Regionally the workforce is concentrated in the Central North Island (38%), which has the largest plantation forest area and woodflow with the clustering of large processing facilities in Tokoroa, Rotorua and Kawerau being a significant factor. The Southern North Island (10%), Nelson - Marlborough (10%), Northland (9%), and Otago - Southland (8%) are the other main regions of employment, generally reflecting the maturity of the industry in those regions.

For a full summary of the research, click here

To view a presentation and discussion of the results, click here