ABSTRACT
Sweden is well endowed with forests. About 60 per cent of the total land area (24 million ha) consists of closed forests. There are approximately 3 ha of forests per person in the country (which can be compared with the European average of about 0. 25 ha per capita). The stem volume of forests in Sweden was estimated at 2.74 billion m3 in 1985. This figure had risen considerably during the preceding 60 years. In 1925, when the first national forest inventory was completed, the standing volume was only 1.76 billion m3. Thus, the rate of increase between 1925 and 1985 was roughly 0.75 per cent per year. This increase has affected all parts of the country, but has been the largest in the southern regions, where growth rates of about 1.2 per cent per year have been experienced.
