Factors affecting sawnwood consumption in Europe

Recent significant changes in the sawnwood consumption per capita in some European countries raise the questions, whether similar changes could happen in other countries as well, and if so, driven by what? The objective of this study is to identify potential factors affecting the level and growth rate of sawnwood consumption in Europe. Econometric models with sawnwood consumption per capita as the dependent variable are estimated for 17 European countries for the period of 1980-2012. The per capita form normalizes the data in regard to the size of the markets, and therefore makes the data more comparable across countries and over time. The results indicate that the sawnwood consumption per capita is related to construction activity, income, and prices. However, the results point to large regional differences in the drivers of sawnwood consumption across Europe. Moreover, in densely forested and scarcely populated regions, there have been structural changes that may have been caused by changes in the market share of sawnwood in the construction markets, which the models measuring economic activity are unable to capture.