The line graph presented illustrates the production quantities of three forest derivatives – paper and packaging, wood pulp, and sawn wood – in the UK over a two-decade period starting in 1980.
Overall, it is evident that while the figures for paper and packaging experienced a significant increase, sawn wood followed an opposite trend, declining over the same period. Throughout the entire timeframe, paper and packaging consistently maintained its position as the leading product in terms of production volume among the three categories.
Focusing on the dominant category, the production of paper and packaging began at approximately 225 million tonnes in 1980. In the first decade, this figure showed a gradual increase, rising to exactly 250 million tonnes by 1990. Following that, the output of paper and packaging underwent a notable surge, climbing sharply from 250 million to 350 million tonnes within the next decade. Consequently, it retained its status as the highest-produced item throughout the entire period examined.
In contrast, sawn wood, which initially reported the second-largest volume at around 200 million tonnes, suffered a sustained decline, dropping to 145 million tonnes by 1990. This downward trend continued, leading to an approximate figure of 125 million tonnes by the end of the evaluated period. As for wood pulp, its output saw a slight decrease from 165 million tonnes at the outset to 145 million tonnes in 1990. However, wood pulp experienced a modest recovery in the subsequent years, reaching about 160 million tonnes by 2000, thus surpassing sawn wood to occupy the second position in production volume.