4 Jul 2026
,Russia
After a strong and unexpected increase recorded in 2024, the French market for standing timber in private forests begins a measured adjustment in 2025. According to the 2026 indicator published as part of the Economic Observatory of France Bois Forêt, the general index of standing timber sales prices shows a 4% decline. The average price, all species combined, thus stands at €86/m³ in 2025, compared with €90/m³ the previous year.
This correction should not, however, be interpreted as a sign of a lasting market reversal. Sector players see it rather as a normalisation phase after several years of price pressures. Current levels nevertheless remain well above those observed before the health crisis: the post-Covid threshold stays above €80/m³, whereas prices had plateaued at around €60/m³ before 2020.
The market is evolving in a contrasting economic environment, while confirming the growing strategic importance of the wood sector for France’s ecological and industrial transition.
The indicator is compiled each year jointly by La Forestière, the ASFFOR and the Experts Forestiers de France, based on grouped sales of standing timber carried out in private forests across metropolitan France. It deliberately excludes over-the-counter transactions and those covered by supply contracts, retaining only sales conducted under transparent market conditions: genuine confrontation between supply and demand, a common set of specifications and identical scaling methods for all lots.
The indicator includes a general index as well as detailed indices by main commercial species. Covering a 21-year period, the tool enables professionals to place a sale in its historical context, analyse market trends and inform their forest management decisions.
