Overall, the value of sawn wood exports flatlined via an average 1.3% gain for all exporting nations since 2019 when sawn wood shipments were valued at $35.8 billion.
From 2022 to 2023, the value of sawn wood shipped worldwide plummeted by -29.4% starting from $51.3 billion.
The 5 biggest exporters of sawn wood are Canada, Sweden, Russia, Germany and the United States of America. By value, those 5 major suppliers shipped more than half (52.3%) of sawn wood exports during 2023.
Among continents, European countries sold the greatest dollar value worth of exported sawn wood during 2023 with shipments amounting to $20.6 billion or well over half (56.8%) of the global total. In second place were North American exporters at 25.4% while another 6.7% of worldwide sawn wood shipments originated from suppliers in Asia.
Smaller percentages came from providers in Latin America (5.7%) excluding Mexico but including Caribbean nations, trailed by Africa (3.7%), then Oceania (1.8%) led by New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for sawn wood is 4407.
Sawn Wood Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of sawn wood during 2023.
- Canada: US$6.5 billion (18% of total sawn wood exports)
- Sweden: $3.6 billion (10%)
- Russia: $3.3 billion (9%)
- Germany: $2.9 billion (8%)
- United States: $2.7 billion (7.4%)
- Finland: $2 billion (5.5%)
- Austria: $1.6 billion (4.3%)
- Thailand: $1.3 billion (3.4%)
- Brazil: $762.2 million (2.1%)
- Chile: $759.8 million (2.1%)
- Latvia: $742 million (2%)
- Belgium: $597.4 million (1.6%)
- New Zealand: $528 million (1.5%)
- Malaysia: $503.9 million (1.4%)
- Croatia: $489.1 million (1.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped more than three-quarters (77.7%) of globally exported sawn wood in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the lone growth exporter of sawn wood was Thailand thanks to its 25.1% advance from 2022 to 2023.
Those countries that posted declines in their exported sawn wood sales were led by: Latvia (down -42.3% from 2022), Russia (down -40.8%), Canada (down -39.8%), Germany (down -31.1%) and Belgium (down -27.3%).
Countries Generating Greatest Surpluses Trading Sawn Wood
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for sawn wood during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s sawn wood exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Canada: US$6 billion (net export surplus down -40.9% since 2022)
- Sweden: $3.4 billion (down -25.1%)
- Russia: $3.2 billion (down -40.8%)
- Finland: $2 billion (down -24.9%)
- Germany: $1.9 billion (down -23.4%)
- Thailand: $1.11 billion (up 39.3%)
- Austria: $1.05 billion (down -22.4%)
- Chile: $747.4 million (down -26.4%)
- Brazil: $747.4 million (down -25.9%)
- Latvia: $629.6 million (down -38.1%)
- Cameroon: $476.3 million (down -23.2%)
- New Zealand: $468.2 million (down -3.4%)
- Ukraine: $403 million (down -15.2%)
- Romania: $379.4 million (down -28.4%)
- Croatia: $356.7 million (down -15.1%)
World leader Canada generated the highest surplus in the international trade of sawn wood, albeit it shrank compared to 2022. Nevertheless, this positive cashflow confirms Canada’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Deficits Trading Sawn Wood
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for sawn wood during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s sawn wood import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- mainland China: -US$6.7 billion (net export deficit down -8.9% since 2022)
- United States of America: -$5.3 billion (down -44.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$2.2 billion (down -23.3%)
- Italy: -$1.5 billion (down -16.2%)
- Japan: -$1.3 billion (down -53.8%)
- Netherlands: -$933 million (down -19.9%)
- Mexico: -$787.8 million (down -30.5%)
- Egypt: -$722.8 million (down -29.5%)
- France: -$550.1 million (down -23.1%)
- South Korea: -$479.1 million (down -28.9%)
- India: -$451.7 million (down -8.2%)
- Denmark: -$378.5 million (down -14.8%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$349 million (down -48.1%)
- Vietnam: -$333.7 million (down -67.8%)
- Taiwan: -$330.8 million (down -27.3%)
Mainland China and the United States of America incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of sawn wood. In turn, these negative cashflows highlight both players’ comparative competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for sawn wood-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from the American economy.
Searchable List of Sawn Wood Exporting Countries in 2023
The following database spotlights the 100 major exporters of sawn wood, accounting for 99.97% of the world’s sawn wood exports.
| Rank | Exporter | Sawn Wood Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Canada | $6,524,616,000 | -39.8% |
| 2. | Sweden | $3,616,754,000 | -25.1% |
| 3. | Russia | $3,251,650,000 | -40.8% |
| 4. | Germany | $2,906,147,000 | -31.1% |
| 5. | United States | $2,669,421,000 | -21.3% |
| 6. | Finland | $2,000,233,000 | -26.9% |
| 7. | Austria | $1,566,860,000 | -26.8% |
| 8. | Thailand | $1,250,237,000 | +25.1% |
| 9. | Brazil | $762,239,000 | -25.3% |
| 10. | Chile | $759,840,000 | -26.2% |
| 11. | Latvia | $741,990,000 | -42.3% |
| 12. | Belgium | $597,372,000 | -27.3% |
| 13. | New Zealand | $527,950,000 | -15.9% |
| 14. | Malaysia | $503,885,000 | -16.9% |
| 15. | Croatia | $489,141,000 | -15.4% |
| 16. | France | $483,839,000 | -14.9% |
| 17. | Cameroon | $476,413,000 | -23.2% |
| 18. | Romania | $461,101,000 | -31.1% |
| 19. | Czech Republic | $430,737,000 | -39.4% |
| 20. | Ukraine | $406,002,000 | -15.3% |
| 21. | Poland | $375,536,000 | -23% |
| 22. | Gabon | $353,865,000 | -17.9% |
| 23. | Netherlands | $330,971,000 | -8.7% |
| 24. | Italy | $300,938,000 | -7.5% |
| 25. | Belarus | $299,944,000 | -40.7% |
| 26. | Slovenia | $287,359,000 | -16.4% |
| 27. | Lithuania | $279,881,000 | -41.8% |
| 28. | Estonia | $251,757,000 | -41.4% |
| 29. | Slovakia | $247,850,000 | -32.6% |
| 30. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $219,521,000 | -22.4% |
| 31. | Norway | $212,149,000 | -16.6% |
| 32. | Congo | $182,408,000 | +25.9% |
| 33. | Philippines | $175,133,000 | -22% |
| 34. | Uruguay | $170,484,000 | -6.9% |
| 35. | Ireland | $154,582,000 | -24.9% |
| 36. | Hungary | $126,748,000 | -16.9% |
| 37. | mainland China | $119,154,000 | -28.5% |
| 38. | Ecuador | $117,302,000 | +15.1% |
| 39. | Vietnam | $103,985,000 | +167.3% |
| 40. | United Kingdom | $101,060,000 | -3.6% |
| 41. | Serbia | $94,480,000 | -11.5% |
| 42. | Spain | $89,686,000 | -17.3% |
| 43. | Eswatini | $75,719,000 | -6.7% |
| 44. | Switzerland | $66,202,000 | -9.3% |
| 45. | Argentina | $64,473,000 | -6.6% |
| 46. | Laos | $63,335,000 | -70.3% |
| 47. | Portugal | $61,744,000 | -23.6% |
| 48. | Denmark | $61,005,000 | -30% |
| 49. | South Africa | $57,933,000 | -6.1% |
| 50. | Australia | $51,400,000 | +1.3% |
| 51. | Japan | $46,207,000 | -34.4% |
| 52. | Türkiye | $44,883,000 | -39.3% |
| 53. | Peru | $42,339,000 | -16% |
| 54. | Bolivia | $39,941,000 | +9.9% |
| 55. | Ivory Coast | $38,766,000 | -27.6% |
| 56. | Ghana | $38,710,000 | -34.2% |
| 57. | Indonesia | $37,339,000 | -16.5% |
| 58. | Papua New Guinea | $35,386,000 | -3.9% |
| 59. | Myanmar | $33,829,000 | -67.2% |
| 60. | Tanzania | $32,377,000 | -30.3% |
| 61. | Bulgaria | $25,342,000 | -16.1% |
| 62. | Honduras | $23,645,000 | -27.8% |
| 63. | Central African Rep | $20,356,000 | +802.3% |
| 64. | Guatemala | $19,193,000 | +13% |
| 65. | Luxembourg | $15,142,000 | +42.2% |
| 66. | Equatorial Guinea | $13,831,000 | -0.5% |
| 67. | Georgia | $12,420,000 | -12% |
| 68. | Fiji | $11,750,000 | -37.3% |
| 69. | Montenegro | $11,243,000 | -61% |
| 70. | Mozambique | $11,196,000 | -26.4% |
| 71. | Venezuela | $11,165,000 | -51.8% |
| 72. | Democratic Rep. Congo | $10,920,000 | -0.1% |
| 73. | Angola | $9,974,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Solomon Islands | $9,651,000 | -9% |
| 75. | Suriname | $9,588,000 | +9.6% |
| 76. | United Arab Emirates | $9,007,000 | -86.1% |
| 77. | Guyana | $8,909,000 | -74.5% |
| 78. | Taiwan | $8,620,000 | -20.7% |
| 79. | Mexico | $8,310,000 | -23.8% |
| 80. | Benin | $7,054,000 | -46.8% |
| 81. | India | $6,891,000 | -20.9% |
| 82. | Colombia | $6,591,000 | -28.1% |
| 83. | Greece | $6,390,000 | +8.7% |
| 84. | Paraguay | $5,246,000 | -37.3% |
| 85. | South Korea | $5,203,000 | -15.8% |
| 86. | Panama | $4,986,000 | -13.6% |
| 87. | Singapore | $4,503,000 | -47.6% |
| 88. | Madagascar | $4,003,000 | -10.4% |
| 89. | Nicaragua | $3,781,000 | -29.7% |
| 90. | North Macedonia | $3,195,000 | -10.7% |
| 91. | Egypt | $3,038,000 | +172.2% |
| 92. | Costa Rica | $2,762,000 | +5.5% |
| 93. | Cambodia | $2,679,000 | -53% |
| 94. | Zimbabwe | $2,460,000 | -37.8% |
| 95. | Uzbekistan | $2,373,000 | +707.1% |
| 96. | Albania | $2,100,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Uganda | $1,820,000 | -72.3% |
| 98. | Mauritius | $1,751,000 | +311% |
| 99. | Belize | $1,701,000 | -9.3% |
| 100. | Sri Lanka | $1,501,000 | -18.7% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2023 data was available.
Focusing on the 100 top exporters of sawn wood, the strongest increases were generated by Central African Republic (up 802.3% from 2022), Uzbekistan (up 707.1%), Mauritius (up 311%), Egypt (up 172.2%) then Vietnam (up 167.3%).
Historic Sawmills
Below are selected historic sawmills that represent traditional suppliers for processed timber. Shown within parenthesis is the country where each sawmill is located.
- Arcola Mills (United States)
- Chatham Saw Mill (India)
- Cook’s Mill (United States)
- Cooper’s Sawmill (United States)
- De Rat (Netherlands)
- Hierapolis Sawmill (Turkey)
- Kin Kin Sawmill (Australia)
- Lahey’s Canungra Sawmill Complex (Australia)
- Ledyard Up-Down Sawmill (United States)
- Priest Mill (United States)
- Sutter’s Mill (United States)
See also Top Asphalt Exports & Imports by Country Plus Average Prices, Top Cork Exporting Countries, Plastic Item Exports by Country and Top Stainless Steel Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 18, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 18, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 18, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 18, 2024
Wikipedia, Category: Sawmills. Accessed on July 18, 2024
