European Union - Forest rents (% of GDP)

Forest rents (% of GDP) in European Union was 0.061 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 49 years was 0.150 in 1974, while its lowest value was 0.047 in 2004.

Definition: Forest rents are roundwood harvest times the product of average prices and a region-specific rental rate.

Source: Estimates based on sources and methods described in "The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium" (World Bank, 2011).

See also:

Year Value
1970 0.146
1971 0.128
1972 0.117
1973 0.146
1974 0.150
1975 0.134
1976 0.134
1977 0.110
1978 0.113
1979 0.120
1980 0.126
1981 0.114
1982 0.114
1983 0.104
1984 0.095
1985 0.102
1986 0.088
1987 0.084
1988 0.087
1989 0.094
1990 0.089
1991 0.057
1992 0.055
1993 0.064
1994 0.062
1995 0.067
1996 0.069
1997 0.065
1998 0.059
1999 0.058
2000 0.067
2001 0.060
2002 0.060
2003 0.057
2004 0.047
2005 0.049
2006 0.051
2007 0.059
2008 0.056
2009 0.052
2010 0.061
2011 0.060
2012 0.059
2013 0.059
2014 0.061
2015 0.060
2016 0.062
2017 0.060
2018 0.066
2019 0.061

Development Relevance: Accounting for the contribution of natural resources to economic output is important in building an analytical framework for sustainable development. In some countries earnings from natural resources, especially from fossil fuels and minerals, account for a sizable share of GDP, and much of these earnings come in the form of economic rents - revenues above the cost of extracting the resources. Natural resources give rise to economic rents because they are not produced. For produced goods and services competitive forces expand supply until economic profits are driven to zero, but natural resources in fixed supply often command returns well in excess of their cost of production. Rents from nonrenewable resources - fossil fuels and minerals - as well as rents from overharvesting of forests indicate the liquidation of a country's capital stock. When countries use such rents to support current consumption rather than to invest in new capital to replace what is being used up, they are, in effect, borrowing against their future.

Limitations and Exceptions: This definition of economic rent differs from that used in the System of National Accounts, where rents are a form of property income, consisting of payments to landowners by a tenant for the use of the land or payments to the owners of subsoil assets by institutional units permitting them to extract subsoil deposits.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The estimates of natural resources rents are calculated as the difference between the price of a commodity and the average cost of producing it. This is done by estimating the world price of units of specific commodities and subtracting estimates of average unit costs of extraction or harvesting costs (including a normal return on capital). These unit rents are then multiplied by the physical quantities countries extract or harvest to determine the rents for each commodity as a share of gross domestic product (GDP).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Natural resources contribution to GDP