With a stock of 336 cubic metres per hectare, Germany, following Switzerland and Austria, is at the top of European countries. With a total stock of 3.7 billion cubic metres, more timber is standing in German forests than in any other country in the European Union.
All types of ownership participate in this stock increase. The greatest per hectare stock – 352 cubic metres – is located in the private forests.
In the past decade, the utilization intensity in the private forests in the average of all size classes was just as high as in the state forests and exceeds it in some Länder. High stocks are a great potential. However, the amount of stocks goes hand in hand with the increase in the risk of abiotic and biotic damage and accompanying losses in value, for example through storm damages.