How much wood from Slovakia did IKEA use?
We require that suppliers use Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified or recycled wood in our home furnishing products. All information presented here is valid for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) with a reporting period from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 and, unless otherwise specified, applies to virgin wood used in IKEA home furnishing products (excluding paper).
Amount of virgin wood used roundwood equivalent (RWE): 334,042 m3
Contribution to total IKEA virgin wood used for home furnishing products: 2%
Approximate proportion of Slovakia’s total harvest used by IKEA suppliers: 4%
Approximate proportion of Slovakia’s forests that are FSC-certified: 20%
Years in IKEA supply chain: 30+
Regions and types of forests
In FY22, virgin wood of Slovakian origin used in IKEA products mainly came from actively managed temperate forests in the eastern and western regions.
Wood species
In Slovakia, a mix of different wood species is sourced by sub-suppliers to mainly produce engineered composite wood-based material for IKEA home furnishing products. In FY22, the top species sourced from Slovakia for solid wood applications were beech and pine.
Concerns
The risk for illegal logging is higher in Slovakia, so we must be extra vigilant. However, we have learned over the years that working with value-driven, honest, hard-working people, wherever they are based, is rewarding and impactful - especially when working together to drive change. Sometimes this means that we work in markets facing challenges, and we will continue to do so when we see that we can help improve forest management and support the rights and needs of people who depend on forests.
Wherever our suppliers source wood from, to minimise the risk of wood entering our supply chain that does not meet our own requirements, including legal requirements, we require our suppliers to only source FSC-certified wood-based materials. Our suppliers are also required to collect evidence across the supply chain to demonstrate compliance and our experts on the ground regularly perform IWAY forestry and wood supply chain audits.
Recent developments/actions
For several decades we have worked alongside different partners in Slovakia to improve forest management. One example is our partnership with WWF. Within the partnership, we have been working together to help protect high conservation value forests with a particular focus on old growth forests and promoted responsible forest management and transparency in trade. Read more about our work with WWF in Slovakia.