Conditions and changing capacity. Fiber production has risen nearly 50 percent since 1960 to 1.5 billion cubic meters annually. In most industrial countries, net annual tree growth exceeds harvest rates; in many other regions, however, more trees are removed from production forests than are replaced by natural growth. Fiber scarcities are not expected in the foreseeable future. Plantations currently supply more than 20 percent of industrial wood fiber, and this contribution is expected to increase. Harvesting from natural forests will also continue, leading to younger and more uniform forests.

Data quality. Generally good global data on industrial roundwood production by country are published annually by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). Production is recorded by value and by volume in cubic meters per year. Various studies forecast future production and consumption rates. Forest inventory data, recording annual rates of tree growth, tree mortality, size and age of stands, and harvest rates, are generally available for industrial countries but are incomplete and must be estimated for many developing countries. Information on plantation extent and productivity varies widely among countries.