Facts and figures

The rapid growth of PEFC to become the world's largest certification system and our popularity among family and community forest owners are a testament to the solid foundation on which PEFC is built and its importance in promoting sustainable forest management globally.

Our work is made possible by the voluntary engagement of countless stakeholders at local and national level around the world, who support its ongoing efforts to expand certification and sustainable forest management beyond the current 9% of global forest area.

Quick Facts

Almost 300 million hectares of forest area (or 740 million acres) are managed in compliance with PEFC's internationally accepted Sustainability Benchmarks - that's roughly the size of Egypt, South Africa and Turkey combined. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of all certified forests globally are certified to PEFC (n.b. estimation, based on the latest PEFC and FSC figures).

PEFC certification provides assurance that forests are managed in line with challenging environmental, social and economic requirements. It is crucial in giving evidence of sustainable forest management, enabling forest owners and managers to demonstrate that the practices they apply in the forest are sustainable and that their forests meet our needs and those of future generations.

Currently more than 28,800 companies and organisations have achieved PEFC chain of custody certification. That equals one-third of all chains of custody globally, and you can find these companies in more than 80 countries. 

PEFC chain of custody certification tracks forest-based products from sustainable sources to the final product. It demonstrates that each step of the supply chain is closely monitored through independent auditing to ensure that unsustainable sources are excluded.

56 national members, with 45 endorsed national and regional certification systems, have joined forces under the PEFC umbrella to collaboratively promote sustainable forest management. Through our projects and partnerships around the world, we work to increase this number, bringing sustainable forest management and certification to more countries and to more forest owners, large and small.

PEFC certification is a standard of choice for public timber procurement policies in e.g. the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, in addition to numerous private timber procurement policies. PEFC certification also demonstrates compliance with legislative requirements, including the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), the U.S. Lacey Act, and the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Regulation.

PEFC certification per country and over time

The interactive document below displays the area of PEFC-certified forests and the number of PEFC chain of custody certificates by country, as well as the development over time. You can also check the PEFC statistics document collection for the quarterly reports.

Double certification

Based on joint research, PEFC and FSC concluded that in mid-2023, approximately 63 million hectares of global forest area were double certified.

Please note that the data include only the forest area certified by FSC or PEFC-endorsed systems from 2016 to 2023, excluding any other schemes. The list includes only countries where forest area is certified under both schemes and the data should be regarded as best estimates.

*This is an estimation, based on the PEFC and FSC figures