Finland's Forests Have Stopped Absorbing Carbon
Silver Data Lab Research Desk · Statistical analysis · Published on 25 April 2026
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- Data source
- Eurostat
- Reference period
- 2024
- Last updated
- 25 April 2026
Key estimates
- EU land, forests and soils removed a net 0.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per inhabitant in 2024.
- Finland's land sector emitted a net 1.7 tonnes per inhabitant — its forests now release more carbon than they absorb.
- Latvia at 1.5 and Estonia at 1.4 are in the same position; eight Member States are net emitters from land.
- Sweden removes 5.1 tonnes per inhabitant, the largest sink in the Union.
- Sweden and Finland are neighbours with similar forest cover on opposite sides of zero.
The part of the carbon account that can change sign
Every other emissions measure counts what an economy releases. This one counts what its land does — forests, cropland, grassland, wetlands and soils — and unlike the rest it can be negative, because growing vegetation removes carbon from the atmosphere.
In 2024 EU land removed a net 0.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per inhabitant. The Union's land is a carbon sink, and that sink is counted against its emissions in the net figures used for its climate targets.
Behind that half tonne, Member States sit on both sides of zero.
Finland
Finland records positive 1.7 tonnes per inhabitant. Its land sector emits more carbon than it absorbs.
For a country that is roughly three quarters forest, this is a striking result and a comparatively recent one. Finnish forests were a substantial sink for decades. The shift reflects increased harvesting, slowing growth in ageing stands, and emissions from drained peatland soils, which release carbon continuously regardless of what is growing above them.
Latvia at 1.5 and Estonia at 1.4 are in the same position, and for broadly similar reasons. Germany at 0.7, Ireland at 0.5, Austria at 0.4, the Netherlands at 0.2 and Portugal at 0.1 complete the eight Member States above zero — for Ireland and the Netherlands, drained peat and intensively managed grassland rather than forestry.
Sweden
Sweden removes 5.1 tonnes per inhabitant, the largest sink in the Union by a wide margin. Lithuania follows at 2.7 and Slovenia at 2.1.
Sweden and Finland are the comparison that makes the point. They are neighbours with comparable forest cover and comparable forest industries, and they sit at opposite ends of this ranking — 5.1 tonnes of removal against 1.7 tonnes of emission, a difference of 6.8 tonnes per person.
The difference is not climate. It is the balance between how fast the forest grows and how much is cut, together with the extent of drained organic soils. Those are management variables, and they can move within a decade in either direction.
Why this matters more than its size suggests
Half a tonne per person sounds small beside total EU emissions of several tonnes per person. Its importance is that it is the only term in the account that can be increased directly rather than by reducing something else, and the Union's climate framework relies on it growing.
A sink that is shrinking, or flipping sign in the Member States with the most forest, removes that assumption. Finland's position is therefore a problem for the Union's arithmetic and not only for Finland's.
Reading the sign
The convention here is that positive means net emission and negative means net removal, which is the opposite of how a sink is usually described in words. A country doing well on this indicator has a large negative number.
Net land use emissions, 2024
| Country | tonnes CO2 equivalent per inhabitant | Gap to EU averagepercentage points, derived |
|---|---|---|
| Finland | 1.7 | +2.2 |
| Latvia | 1.5 | +2.0 |
| Estonia | 1.4 | +1.9 |
| European Unionaggregate | -0.5 | — |
| Slovenia | -2.1 | −1.6 |
| Lithuania | -2.7 | −2.2 |
| Sweden | -5.1 | −4.6 |
What these figures cannot tell you
- Land sector accounting is the most uncertain part of the inventory
- Estimating carbon flows through soils and biomass requires modelling rather than measurement, and revisions to method can move a country's figure substantially. These values are less precise than fossil fuel emissions estimates.
- Per inhabitant is an unusual denominator for land
- Land carbon depends on area, forest type and soil, not on population. Dividing by inhabitants makes sparsely populated forested countries look extreme in both directions and is used here for comparability with the other emissions measures on this site.
- A single year in a slow system
- Forest carbon responds to harvesting cycles, storm damage, fire and pest outbreaks, any of which can move a single year. A country's position can shift without a change in policy or long-run trajectory.
- Peatland emissions dominate several positions
- In Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands, drained organic soils release carbon continuously and independently of forest growth. Countries with large drained peat areas can be net emitters despite substantial forest cover.
Frequently asked questions
- Is EU land absorbing or emitting carbon?
- Absorbing, on balance. EU land, forests and soils removed a net 0.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per inhabitant in 2024. Eight individual Member States were net emitters.
- Why are Finland's forests emitting carbon?
- Finland's land sector recorded net emissions of 1.7 tonnes per inhabitant in 2024. The shift from sink to source reflects increased harvesting, slower growth in ageing stands, and continuous carbon release from drained peatland soils, which emit regardless of what grows above them.
- Which EU country has the largest carbon sink?
- Sweden, removing 5.1 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per inhabitant in 2024 — far ahead of Lithuania at 2.7 and Slovenia at 2.1. Sweden and Finland have comparable forest cover and sit at opposite ends of this ranking.
- Why does a negative number mean a country is doing well here?
- Because the source reports net emissions: positive means the land releases more carbon than it captures, negative means it captures more than it releases. A large negative value is a large carbon sink.
Methodological note
Eurostat publishes net greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry as reported in national inventories under the UNFCCC framework. This study uses the measure expressed in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per inhabitant.
The sign convention is that of the source: positive values are net emissions to the atmosphere and negative values are net removals from it.
Values are for 2024 and cover all 27 Member States. The count of Member States above zero, and the comparison between Sweden and Finland, are derived by Silver Data Lab from the published values.
Source data
The underlying series can be inspected and re-downloaded from the Eurostat data browser. The filters below are the ones applied.
Net greenhouse gas emissions of the land use, land use change and forestry sector
sdg_13_21
- Filters applied:
- freq=A · unit=T_HAB · time=2024
- Extracted:
- 2026-08-11
- Source last updated:
- 2026-04-22
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